


Abduction

by StarStorm21



Series: Space Family [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alien Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Alien Dark Creativity Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Alien Logic | Logan Sanders, Alien Morality | Patton Sanders, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Space, Gen, Half Alien Deceit Sanders, Human Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Original Character(s), Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23281132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarStorm21/pseuds/StarStorm21
Summary: In the not so distant future Earth was asked to join the galactic alliance. A few years later humans have gained some rather different reputations among the 4 other species in the alliance. This wouldn't be a problem for most humans as the alliance is still new and interactions with aliens is minimal.Virgil is not most humans.(Short version: Virgil lives with good aliens, is abducted by bad aliens, then saved by other good aliens.)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Everyone, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Space Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774216
Comments: 149
Kudos: 336
Collections: Humans Are Space Orcs





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gets a panic attack near the end just be warned.

Virgil sighed as he stood at his post, watching another gaggle of tourists walked by. He plastered on his fake smile he was required to put on as they passed, not that any of them payed him any mind, which he was simultaneously thankful for and resentful of. Sure, his social anxiety made interacting with people a living hell, why had he ever got a job that required that? But being simply looked over made him feel as though they didn’t see him as anything worth more than the automated security robots scattered around the park. The irony that he’d been hired to be the approachable human face of the security team was not lost on him. Maybe if he was actually allowed to act like a human and not forced to stand in one spot for hours with a plastered-on smile that would help. Of course, he was pretty sure the only reason he even got the job was because of his short stature and small frame. Easy to look unintimidating when you also are easily overlooked.

Not for the first time he wondered if it was really worth it. If there was a reason he didn’t just march into the front office and quit on the spot. However, the image of his boss’s angry face and his disappointed roommates was enough to keep him rooted to his spot.

Realistically he knew his roommates wouldn’t actually be disappointed in him if he left his job. In fact, they’d been telling him to quit for over two weeks now. If only his stupid anxiety would believe it.

Mercifully his shift finally ended, and he was allowed to move his feet from the position he’d stood in nearly all day. He quickly went to the changing room, not wanting to be in his stiff guard uniform any longer than he had to. He then clocked out, glad to see his boss was nowhere in sight, and just managed to get on the next bus before his legs fully gave out on him.

When the bus got to his stop he groaned, not wanting to stand again but somehow, he managed to get to his feet and exit before the automated doors closed behind him. It was still another block to his building and a six-floor elevator ride. His sore feet throbbed at the thought.

“Come on you can do it. You’ve done this plenty of times before.”

He continued to tell himself this until he got to the door of his apartment. He noticed the yellow cloth tied around the doorknob and made sure to enter as quietly as he could.

The first thing he saw when he entered was one of his roommates sitting on the couch and staring at the door to their other roommate’s room. As soon as he closed the door the man on the couch turned to look at him, revealing the yellow scales along the left side of his face.

Most people would be weirded out by his half alien roommate but Virgil had known Dee for long enough that now it was a normal sight and he sat down next to him. His feet thanked him profusely.

“Hey Dee, I saw the flag on the doorknob. How’s Remus doing?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Virgil noticed the tension in his voice. Usually Dee was all sarcasm and witty quips but whenever he or Remus were hurting, he tended to get like this. He’d learned early on this was how Dee showed he cared. Dee didn’t handle serious emotions very well.

“How bad was it?”

“Flashbacks. Thought he was back there.”

Virgil sucked in a breath, he knew Remus suffered from intrusive thoughts and impulses which would send him into negative spirals, but it had been a long time since he’d had full on flashbacks. Remus never told them what they were about, but they’d assumed it had something to do with how he’d been treated where he grew up. You didn’t decide to forsake your whole species and runaway to another planet without reason.

“He’ll be fine soon. He just needs rest.”

Virgil nodded and tried to smile.

“Yeah, I’m sure when he wakes up, he’ll be back to his obnoxiously loud and rude self.”

That made Dee smile a bit as well.

-

Remus was indeed back to his obnoxiously loud and rude self after he woke up, especially since they all refused to talk about what happened earlier. Instead they ordered dinner and sat around the table talking about their days at work.

Remus started with telling the story of how a smuggler had somehow bypassed the security and made his way to the back to try and grab his contraband before it went through customs, only to see Remus and go into a panic at the sight of him.

“Oh man you should have seen his face. I swear this guy was going to shit himself on the spot.”

“Well can you blame him? Aliens aren’t exactly a common thing on Earth yet and seeing a six-foot person with jagged silver horns, pointed ears and nearly black skin isn’t exactly the most reassuring thing to see when you’re already on edge.”

“Yeah probably thought I was some demon sent to take him to hell or something.”

They all burst into laughter at that.

“What was he even smuggling? Can only imagine he’d still think it was worth it after that.”

“Drugs mostly, but not the fun kind though, like the really bad stuff.”

“Yikes, what’d you do with him after you found out what he was doing?”

“My job. Turned him into security.”

Virgil and Dee exchanged disbelieving looks.

“Really that’s all?”

Remus smiled.

“I may have mentioned a few things that could happen to him if he tried something like that again.”

They all laughed again, and Virgil felt the tension from the day drop from his shoulders. He really didn’t know what he’d do without Dee and Remus.

“So, anything new happen with you today, Virge?”

Well so much for forgetting about it.

“No not really. Same as usual. I stood in one spot for hours and got ignored by dump tourists who think a cheap amusement park is the best place to spend their money.”

Dee sighed and gave Virgil a look.

“What did I tell you about standing up for yourself there? Isn’t making you stand that long with no brakes illegal?”

“Yeah try telling that to my boss.”

Remus smiled.

“I’d be happy too. Especially with my sock full of nails.”

“You have a sock… you know what I’m not surprised. But seriously guys it’s not that bad. It’s better than a lot of other jobs I could have.”

“Yes, and that’s a very healthy mindset to have. It’s not like you practically have a position at the airport with us already lined up for you.”

“I know, it’s just every time I think of quitting something happens and I just can’t.”

Dee and Remus exchanged looks and Dee sighed.

“There’s more to it than that isn’t there?”

Virgil looked away.

“No, I just never get the chance.”

“Virgil, you remember I can sense when human’s lie right?”

Virgil swallowed. Sometimes he forgot how much Dee had inherited from his alien ancestry. He couldn’t tell them that he was scared. Not just of his boss but also of working with them. He knew they liked him as a roommate but being a coworker was different. They’d be together the entire day, and it was inevitable he’d mess things up. He’d say something wrong or not do something right and then the two people he’d let climb past his walls would hate him. It’d taken him years just to get to where they were now. He couldn’t ruin it.

“Oh shit! Virgil, breathe!”

Virgil took in a sharp breath of air and suddenly the tightness in his chest dissipated. Oh, he’d been holding his breath. He took in another breath and felt himself calm.

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who… ah shit. Virgil I’m sorry I shouldn’t have pushed you. I...”

Dee took a pause to stop stumbling over his words. He was really bad with serious emotions.

“You don’t have to work at the airport if you don’t want to. We just don’t want you to keep suffering.”

Virgil nodded and they went back to eating. Slowly the mood lifted, and they were back to laughing and joking again.

If only things could stay like that.

-

The next day he walked into the front office and froze at what he saw. A bright orange coat hung on the coat rack just inside of the door, impossible to miss as if it were a warning siren to all who dared enter. Virgil swallowed, and quickly darted his eyes around to make sure the owner of said coat wasn’t in sight. Maybe he could clock in and get to his station before he was seen.

“Ah Virgil I was waiting for you. I need to talk to you.”

Of course, he was never that lucky.

Virgil slowly turned to see the door to his boss’s office open and locked eyes with his boss, emotion unreadable. His whole body told him to run but instead he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

-

Less than an hour later Virgil stood in his usual spot, hands fisted at his side to stop them from shaking. He was not going to break down at work, even if he could still hear his boss’ voice in his head.

His boss never raised his voice at him. No that would be heard by the park goers and raise suspicion. His voice was always level, but Virgil could still hear the malice and distain in his voice. It was all he could do to keep himself from falling apart where he stood. He didn’t even have his normal shields of pretending to be indifferent or, more rarely, lashing out with anger. That would have only made things worse.

Instead he just stood there for hours, with his stupid fake smile, as he pretended that he wasn’t on the verge of an anxiety attack. It didn’t help that the sun decided it was going to be one of the hottest days ever causing his already uncomfortable uniform to stick to him in gross and itchy ways. He couldn’t even brush his bangs into his face to save his eyes as that would make him look scarier and less approachable. It was a long workday.

When his shift ended, he almost cried. Almost, being the key word. He was still in the park surrounded by people. He needed to get home before he could let the dam break. At least he could finally get out of the sun.

He changed and went to the bus like the day before not noticing a pair of eyes watching him as he left.

Once off the bus he started the walk back home, only for everything to suddenly hit him all at once. He fell to the ground, not even feeling the sting in his palms, as he was overwhelmed with the wave of emotion he couldn’t keep back any longer. His eyes burned and his chest ached. He hadn’t had an attack this bad in years, he needed help.

With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone, because of course he was too poor for the new smart glass technology and sent a text to Dee and Remus. It probably didn’t actually contain any real words, but it would get their attention and they could use the tracking app to find him. He just needed to wait until they got there.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d laid there. Time felt like it stretched on forever during an attack, but eventually he heard voices. They were low and muffled, so he couldn’t figure out what was being said or who was talking. Still he let himself relax knowing his friends had found him.

That was until he felt someone touch him and his adrenaline spiked. Neither Dee nor Remus would ever touch him during an anxiety attack, at least not without asking him first. Whoever was with him weren’t his friends, he needed to get away.

Blindly he lashed out and his fist met with something solid. The hands were gone but only for a moment. They came back but harder this time and pinned him down and there was definitely more than two people. He thrashed and clawed and bit but the hands didn’t let up.

He then felt something cover his face that smelled artificially sweet. He felt his thoughts go hazy and his movements slow. This made his fear spike even worse, but his body wouldn’t respond to him.

The hands then picked him up and started carrying him. He wanted to fight, wanted to get away, but everything was too numb and fuzzy for him to think let alone fight. Eventually everything became too much, and he passed out.

-

Dee was putting away some groceries he and Remus had gotten on their way back from work. Or more specifically, he’d gotten the groceries while Remus pushed the cart, since Remus really didn’t understand Earth food and most likely would never try to learn. He was just putting away a box of cereal when he heard the sound of his phone receiving a text.

He put the box down and picked up his phone, knowing there was only one person who would be texting him now and would not be a good idea to miss a text from Virgil. He looked down and his face became one of confusion. The text was mostly just a jumble of letters that seemed to only vaguely to be attempted words. It suddenly clicked and he paled. That seemed to be the time Remus figured it out too as he burst through his door and they locked eyes. They didn’t even need to say a word before they were running out of the apartment, Dee already pulling up the tracking app on his phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil wakes up in a place he really doesn't want to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly just Virgil getting hurt a lot.   
> He mostly just gets beat up and shocked with electricity, but if you don't want to read that you can skip this chapter. Or just read the last section.

Virgil’s head felt fuzzy and his whole body ached. Slowly his other senses returned to him. He could feel he was on a bed, but it wasn’t his. It was far too stiff and lacking in pillows for that. He opened his eyes and light assaulted his retinas. He tried to shield them only for something to shock painfully against his neck.

His hands went to his neck to find something strapped around it. A collar? Someone had put a shock collar on him.

He tugged at it and he was hit with another small shock. He hissed but since it wasn’t much more than one might get from static cling it didn’t detour him. He wanted it off. He found the clasp and felt around for a release but of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Whoever put him in this thing wasn’t going to make it easy for him to get it off.

Thankfully it didn’t seem to be made of a very strong material and he yanked.

He was of course met with another shock, but he ignored it. The shocks steadily grew more painful as he pulled but eventually the clasp gave way and the collar fell to the floor. He then got up from the bed and looked around at where he was.  
He appeared to be in a small six by six bare wight room with the wall to his left being made of bars like a prison cell. He looked through the bars to see he was indeed in some kind of prison as he could see more cells down the hall to either side of him. All were empty though and he could see a large door that he assumed lead to the rest of the building he was in and hopefully to a way out.

He placed his hand on the bars to find they appeared to be made of the same material as the clasp on the collar. He had no idea what it was, appearing to be almost like a mix of wood and plastic, but that didn’t matter. It looked like a few good kicks would be enough to get the door open, so that’s exactly what he did.  
On his third try the lock splintered and snapped, leaving the door wide open. His foot hurt a bit from the amount of force he’d had to use but it was easily ignored. Once he made sure the coast was clear, he left no room for hesitation and bolted.

That was when the alarm started. It was shrill and loud and hurt Virgil’s ears but he kept running. He was almost at the door when it suddenly burst open and several people in strange full body suits and masks came pouring in. There had to be at least twelve and they all had black rods in their hands.

Virgil eyed the rods warily but didn’t break stride. There were really only two blocking the door. If he could get passed them, he’d have a clean shot out.  
He ran, refusing to the let the thoughts of this being a stupid and dangerous idea to take hold and barreled into the two suited men. They went toppling over and Virgil jumped to his feet before they could get up to catch him, except he had no idea where to go from there. He just knew he needed to get as far away as possible from that cell and those strangely dressed people.

He rounded another corner looking for any kind of exit when a window caught his eye. He quickly turned to see if he could open it and get out when he saw what was on the other side. For as far as he could see there was absolutely nothing, but the vast void of space only broken by the light of faraway stars.  
This wasn’t just a kidnapping. This was full on alien abduction. He was in space.

He was on a spaceship, in space, who knew how far away from Earth.  
He felt the anxiety hit him hard and it was all he could do not to have another break down. He’d been helpless during his last one, he couldn’t let that happen again. He needed to find a way off this ship. He needed to get home.

He heard footsteps from the hall he’d just run down, and his feet were moving before he even noticed what he was doing. He ran down hallway after hallway, only vaguely wondering how big this spaceship was before running into a dead end. He skidded to a stop and turned on his heals, only to be face to mask with the aliens who’d abducted him.

This time they were more clustered together and he could see no weak point in their ranks to get through. He was trapped. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going down fighting.

He lunged at the closest alien and punched it right across the jaw. It went sprawling back, but the others attacked. He felt the batons hit him and crackle with electricity, sending jolts through his body. Still he fought, biting, scratching, punching, and kicking. Anything to get the hands holding him down off of him, but in the end it was useless. He’d been running on empty for a while now and with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours his body just gave up. His limbs suddenly felt they weighed a ton and he collapsed to the ground, once again helpless as he was carried back to the prison.

This time they threw him into a cell that had the bars made of something much stronger and hurried out as if not wanting to be close to him any more than necessary. It was then he realized that he’d managed to tare large holes in many of the suits the aliens wore, showing patches of brightly colored fur underneath. Virgil didn’t know any intelligent species that had fur.

However, he really didn’t have the energy to ponder that. He really didn’t have the energy for anything. Not even to pull himself up on the bed next to him. He was exhausted both physically and mentally so he did the only thing he could do. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

-

Virgil didn’t know how long he’d slept but when he woke up, he found he was still on the floor of his cell. So, the aliens hadn’t moved him.

He sat up and suddenly he smelled something. Something like food. He looked over to the door and saw a bowl and spoon on a tray next to it. His stomach growled as he tried to remember last time he ate. Of course, between the anxiety attack, trying to fight off a mob of aliens twice, and running around for who know how long trying to escape said alien mob, it probably didn’t matter. He was starving.

He reached over and dragged the tray closer to him, his body still too sore from everything to do much else and looked into the bowl. It appeared to be filled with a meat-based soup with not much else in it. Not like he could really complain. He was so hungry he’d almost be tempted to eat Remus’ cooking.

The thought of Remus made his chest hurt. What were he and Dee doing now? Where they still looking for him? Did they even know he’d been taken off planet? Had they gotten the police involved?

Part of himself felt guilty for worrying them and all the fuss that was probably happening due to his disappearance. He had to remind himself that being abducted by aliens was probably a good reason for a fuss to be raised. If only it would do any good. Was there even a protocol for alien abduction?

Humans had only just started integrating into the larger galactic society and there was a lot of new territory to cover, both figuratively and literally. He wondered if his parents were still alive if they would come save him. They’d been the ones to rescue Remus and bring him to Earth after all. Goodness, when was the last time he’d thought about his parents?

His stomach growled, breaking him from his depressing thought spiral and he took a spoonful of the soup to his mouth. It was bland and the meat was chewy but again he really had no way of getting anything better. These aliens obviously wanted him alive but didn’t seem to care if he was happy. They’d made that point very clear with the electric batons and shock collar.

Wait the shock collar! He quickly brought a hand to his neck to be relieved when all he felt was skin. Either the aliens didn’t have another collar with a stronger lock or hadn’t gotten around to putting a new one on. He really hoped it was the former. A collar just felt demeaning, whether or not it was meant to hurt.

After he finished eating, Virgil managed to get to his feet and look around his new cell. It was pretty much just like the last one, only the bars were much stronger, feeling closer to metal. There was no way he was breaking out like the first time, not that he had the energy for it anyway. With not much else to do he sat down on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest trying to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

-

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been like that when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He looked up and saw two of the aliens coming down the hall towards his cell. One of them was holding something in their hands and Virgil bristled at the sight.

It was another collar and even from a distance he could tell the clasp was made of the same metal-like material the bars of his new cell were. His muscles tensed ready to fight. There were only two of them and there was no way he was letting them put that collar on him.

As soon as the aliens reached the door they froze, both looking right at Virgil. They then looked to each other then ran back down the hall.

Virgil tilted his head in confusion. That was odd. Why had they just left?  
He got his answer a few moments later when the two aliens returned with about six more of them. They all came to the door and Virgil tensed. Sure, it wasn’t as many as before, but there was still no way he could fight off all of them at once, especially inside the cell.

The door opened and he pressed himself farther into the corner locking his arms around his neck to keep that collar off him a long as possible.

The first blow was fast and hit him in his exposed ribs. Virgil just curled tighter and glared at the alien who swung at him. The aliens looked to each other and nodded. Two grabbed each of his arms and pulled as three continued to hit him with their batons. The last one held the collar ready to snap it on as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

It hurt. It really hurt, but he would not unlock his arms from around his neck. These people had taken away nearly everything he had; he wasn’t going to make anything easy for them.

Eventually, however, the aliens managed to pry his hands apart and the collar was forced around his neck. Anger exploded inside him and with no need to defend anymore he went on the attack. He balled his hands into fists and leaped right at the one who put the collar on him.

He was able to get in several blows before he felt a baton slam into his back, and he was knocked away. More batons came down on him and he lashed out. Unfortunately, it seemed the aliens were learning. They stayed out of reach, so the only thing Virgil’s hands found were shocks and hits from the batons. Not really having any other option he curled in on himself again, protecting his more vulnerable areas and waited for it to stop.

-

Not that far away, on another ship, a light started to blink on a monitor. Large black eyes stared at the screen for a moment before turning to two other occupants of the ship.

“There appears to be another ship in the area.”

“Another ship? What would another ship be doing out here in uncharted space?”

“Unknown, but some logical guesses can be made.”

“Come on, you don’t have to be a genius to know what that ship is. They’re smugglers. Probably with something very illegal if they’re going all the way out here to transport it.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Well typical procedure would be to alert the nearest law enforcement agency and give them the coordinates, but considering we are in uncharted space, and our ship is both bigger and more advanced, direct confrontation would be in our favor.”

“Then what are we waiting for. Let’s go bust a smuggling operation.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is rescued but is he any safer than before?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is still a bit injured in this chapter but it's not by anyone purposefully and is only in the very beginning of the chapter. Also Roman points a glowing sword at him but nothing comes of it.

Virgil was in so much pain. He could still feel the phantom shocks from the electric batons. At some point they seemed to have decided that wasn’t enough and had brought out something that had felt like a whip. He could tell that at least one of the cuts it left on his back was still bleeding and was definitely going to scar.

He wondered if it was even worth fighting back anymore. Maybe it would be better if he just did what they wanted him to do. There was no way he was getting back to Earth anyway so why bother?

Just then there was a loud bang that rocked the alien ship back and Virgil was flung against a wall. He cried out in pain as he felt the cuts on his back get hit. The collar letting out a jolt at the loudness of his voice.

There were a few more bangs and then loud crashing and alien gun fire. Virgil tried to stand. To get a better view of what was happening just out of sight of his cell. His muscles had other plans and he just remained on the floor as the chaos continued through the ship.

Eventually the sounds of fighting died down and things began to settle. A moment later an alien he didn’t recognize came running down the hall and stopped at his cell.

The only way Virgil could really describe the alien was fluffy. They seemed to be covered in a very soft light blue fur, with large round eyes and floppy ears, making it look like a cross between Stitch and a Muppet. The only clothing the alien seemed to be wearing was a gray piece of fabric draped over their shoulders and tied in the front, and a small device tucked around their ear.

Virgil’s mind quickly went to the patches of fur he saw through the tares he’d made in his captors’ suits. Was this what they looked like underneath? But this one was so… innocent looking. The soft warm look of the being in front of him was completely off from the feeling the aliens holding him gave off and his brain refused to connect the two.

The alien turned and looked into the cell. They then made a noise of alarm at seeing Virgil and quickly turned to call back down the hall.

A few moments later two more aliens came into view. The first one to come in looked almost as if they’d walked out of a fantasy book. Their skin was a pail cream and at first glance appeared to be wearing a gold crown, before further inspection showed it was actually a pair of horns. Their ears were also pointed, and long brown hair was braided in the back. Over one ear was the same device the first alien was wearing. They were also wearing a white outfit with gold accents on the shoulders that made him look like he had wings, and a red sash going from his right shoulder to left hip. They were a Fae-lil. The major contrast made him reel at the realization this was the same species as Remus. Upon seeing Virgil, the Fae-lil glared down at him with a distrustful stare. Right back at you buddy.

The other alien’s species he recognized immediately. They were taller than average but the large black eyes, lack of mouth and nose, and large antenna made it very recognizable as a member of the most prominent intelligent species in the galaxy as well as the species to make first contact with humans. An Alnaien. This one in particular had dark indigo skin and perfectly styled dark blue hair. They were also wearing what looked to be a black lab coat that buttoned up in the front and what could only be described as an alien necktie. The same device the other two had was also placed on this one’s ear as well. They looked at Virgil with a mix of wariness and curiosity.

The three aliens stared at Virgil before they turned away and started talking to each other. Although, they all seemed to be talking in different languages. The blue, fluffy one was making a lot of little squeaks and trills, while the Fae-lil sounded almost like he was singing, and the Alnaien spoke in a low hum. It was weird.

Despite not knowing what any of them were saying Virgil could tell they were talking about him. He really hated it when people talked about him like he wasn’t there. It didn’t help that his head was swimming from all the pain he’d just reexperienced and the only thing keeping him conscious was his anxiety. So, his temper was not the best at that moment.

He banged on the bars to his cell which shuttered.

“Hey.”

Immediately the alien chatter stopped, and they all looked at him.

Virgil returned their looks. Of course, that just happened to be the time the last of his adrenaline gave out and he suddenly felt everything get heavy. With the last of his strength gone his eyes closed and everything around him went dark.

-

Virgil was on something soft. Last time he’d woken up on something this soft he’d been on Earth. Which at this point he wasn’t really sure how long ago that was. Couldn’t have been more than a couple days, right? Wait he was getting distracted. Why was he on something soft?

Virgil opened his eyes and immediately hissed at the bright lights. He brushed his bangs into his eyes to help cut the light as his eyes adjusted. Wait he’d been able to block his face. There was no shock.

Slowly he raised a hand to his neck and nearly panicked when he didn’t immediately feel skin. However, a second later he realized it wasn’t the collar but a small bandage over the place he’d been shocked. He then noticed other things. Like the fact the collar wasn’t the only thing gone. His shirt and hoodie had also been removed. However, his torso wasn’t left bare as he felt the shifting bandages on his back and sides, over the burns and cuts made by the batons and whip.

After that realization he tried to figure out where he was, since it was clear he wasn’t in that cell anymore. He tried to sit up, despite the protest from his injuries, only to feel something tug at his wrist. He looked down and saw what looked to be a type of handcuff securing him to the bed he was in. It was made of a weak flexible material, kind of like wood or plastic. Briefly he remembered the first cell he’d been put in. Did all aliens not know how strong humans were?

Virgil grabbed the handcuff in his other hand and after a bit of yanking was able to snap the lock. It fell limply at the bedside and made a soft clink.

He clenched his fist a few times to remove the stinging in his, now slightly bruised, fingers as he made sure no one was going to come in. He then went back to surveying his surroundings now that he was finally able to get out and look around.

The room looked to be some kind of medical bay. That would explain the bandages. There were a few more beds like the one he’d been in, some machines that seemed to monitor vitals, and some cabinets along one wall.

Virgil went over to the cabinets seeing they were labeled in a language he couldn’t read. The first one seemed to be full of medications and what looked to be a small very advanced 3D printer. The next one was full of other random medical supplies, bandages, sanitation wipes, and what looked like a reusable cast. The final cabinet, however, held something a bit more interesting. It had an array of different tools and devices obviously meant for medical use, but on the bottom shelf was a row of those same devices those alien’s who’d found him were wearing on their ears.

He picked one up and turned it over in his hand. It was small and light, the weight could barely be felt, and had an adjustable hook to fit almost any ear or ear like structure.

Almost without thinking he reached up and placed the device on his own ear. A small green light lit up and Virgil felt a small pinch. His vision when slightly blurry for a moment before returning to sharp focus, the only difference was, he was now able to read the labels on the cabinets.

“Huh, well that’s convenient.”

Still he refused to let his guard down. He still had no idea where he was or if the aliens who found him had any nicer plans for him than the ones who abducted him.

He glanced around the room once more but didn’t find anything else that was useful. Not even his shirt and hoodie. There was no reason for him to stay so he went over to the door, and hesitated.

Suddenly he felt very exposed with his upper body bare like it was and he unconsciously wrapped his arms around his sides. Standing here like an idiot wasn’t going to get him anywhere though and he let his arms drop, not caring about the pain that sudden movement caused. He needed to find the aliens who’d brought him here. He needed to find out what they planned to do with him, and if he needed to be as wary of them as the ones who’d abducted him.

He took a breath and walked through the door into the hallway beyond.

-

It didn’t take long for him to find the three aliens as there really was only two directions for him to go and he apparently had chosen the correct one first. Not typically his luck.

They all seemed to be in a common room of sorts. The three aliens were sitting on a soft couch and turned away from the door Virgil was currently occupying. They were talking to each other in hushed tones and it seemed the device on his ear translated more than just written words as he could now understand what was being said.

“All of the smugglers are locked away in their own cells and their ship has been programed to seek out the nearest law enforcement agency. I have also left a message to play explaining the situation once there. The large amount of other contraband on their ship is plenty to keep them locked up for years.”

“Good job, Logan.”

“So that just leaves one other problem.”

“Roman, they’re a person not a problem.”

“They’re a human, Patton! One of the deadliest species known. I know you think they’re cute but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.”

Virgil quirked an eyebrow as he listened. Wow this guy, Roman, sure seemed over dramatic.

“While the relative level of danger an individual human has, is highly debated, I do have to agree with Roman that the risk of keeping them on the ship is quite elevated and increasing the longer we wait. It is imperative that we figure out a course of action before they wake up.”

“I still think we should throw him out the air lock. One less human the better.”

“ROMAN!”

“I highly doubt committing a murder would be beneficial to any of us. The most logical course would have been to leave them on the ship and have whatever authority it arrived at take care of them, but considering Patton already made it clear that was not an option we need to think of something else.”

Ok, he’d heard enough. He needed to step in before things got too far and they decided to actually hurt him. Roman had said humans were dangerous and scary right? Maybe he could scare them into taking him home.

He took a breath and leaned against the doorframe to make him look relaxed and unafraid. Easier to scare people when you don’t look afraid yourself, especially when you’re shorter than all the people you intend to scare. Now he just had to get their attention. Hopefully this translator thing worked both ways.

“Anyone ever tell you it’s rude to talk about people behind their backs?”

All three aliens stopped talking and slowly turned to look at him. He gave a smirk that showed off one of his top canines and both Roman and Logan stiffened.

Patton on the other hand, had a very different reaction. His eyes went wide, and a wide grin spread over his face.

“You’re awake!”

Virgil tried not to flinch at the sound and instead glared at Patton.

“Uh yeah, been up for a bit now trying to find you.”

“But that’s impossible. It has only been an hour since we discovered you. How is it that you are awake and mobile so quickly? Aren’t you in pain?”

"Well yeah, you don't take a beating like that and feel nothing, but I wasn't going to sit around while you decided what to do with me. Because believe it or not I'd kind of like to have some input on that."

Patton covered his mouth with his hands, eyes wide with regret.

"Oh of course you would, Kiddo. We're sorry for excluding you."

"Kiddo?"

"Oh, a term of endearment in my culture. It probably translates to something different for you though. I can stop if you want."

"Uh yeah, it's kind of demeaning when translated."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Of course, I'll stop."

Virgil was taken aback by how easily Patton agreed to his request. Maybe this scary act was working. Although, Patton didn't really seem scared, just eager to please.

Of course, that little moment of victory couldn’t last.

"Hold on. Did we not also handcuff you to your recovery bed? How did you break free of your bindings?"

Roman's fists were clenched as they used they’re height to tower over Virgil.

Virgil forced himself to keep eye contact, even as an icy fear rand down his spine. He also crossed his arms over his chest, despite them screaming in pain to be dropped back down.

"You really thought something as flimsy as that could hold me? I already broke a cell door made of the stuff."

There was a shocked silence as all three aliens stared at Virgil.

“What? You’re telling me you guys aren't strong enough to break something like that?"

Yes, that may have been to keep up his frightening persona, but he was also curious. From his experience he’d never been under the impression humans were stronger than any other intelligent life.

“It is not a matter of strength. Most species do have the physical capability of breaking through plylon. However, the forces needed to do so definitely go beyond sufficient to do damage to most soft tissue. So, it is really more of a matter of pain tolerance and given your already injured state it is remarkable you haven't hit your limit several times over by now."

Virgil shrugged and had to hold back a gasp as his back exploded in fire.

"Pain is pretty easy to ignore when you've got more important things on your mind."

"Fascinating."

Logan fixed Virgil with a calculating gaze, making him feel like he was under a microscope. It took a lot of willpower to stop himself from squirming in discomfort.

“Yeah, yeah, the human can take a beating, very interesting. Let's get back on track.”

Roman narrowed his eyes at Virgil.

"What do you want human?"

Virgil gave another toothy smirk. That was just the question he wanted to hear.

"Well first I want my clothes back. It's pretty uncomfortable walking around half naked."

He motioned to his bare chest to emphasize his point, his arms aching at the ruff movement.

Patton quickly stood up and started running out of the room.

"Right, of course. Sorry, I got them."

They all watched Patton go before Logan turned back to Virgil.

“Apologies. Your clothing was rather soiled and damaged from your ordeal, they are being cleaned and repaired at the moment. I am aware that certain humans are averse to having their upper torso exposed, but since you did not have an undergarment on, I assumed. That was inconsiderate.”

“Yeah, it was. Most humans, no matter their body, don’t like it when other people take off their clothes without them knowing.”

"I see." A translucent floating screen appeared in front of Logan and they appeared to type something before turning their attention back to Virgil. "I will refrain from such actions in the future."

That was when Patton came back, holding a bundle of clothing. They then placed them in Virgil's hands and gave him a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry about the color. Apparently, the repair unit wasn't able to replicate the fabric your clothes were made of, so it ended up matching texture instead of color."

Virgil should have pretended to be mad. He wanted them scared enough to do what he wanted and take him home, but something about snapping at the fluffy alien just felt wrong.

He opted for a resigned sigh and looked back down at the shirt and hoodie. At least he had his clothes back, and if he was being honest the purple patches did look cool. He put them on and finally relaxed his shoulders at feeling the familiar weight of his hoodie.

He then looked back to the aliens.

"So, you going to take me home now or what?"

Might as well get his demand out there now before he lost whatever was keeping him calm enough to keep this act up.

"What?!"

Roman looked pissed.

He appeared to want to say more but Virgil beat him to it.

"What's the problem? You want me off your ship, I want to go home. Wouldn't the easiest solution be to take me back to Earth?"

“We are not going to a death world…”

Logan held up a hand to stop Roman from going on a tirade.

"Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. There are a number of obstacles between us and getting you back to Earth."

Virgil narrowed his eyes.

"Like what?"

Roman opened his mouth again but Logan quickly interrupted them.

“Well for start, one cannot simply fly into Earth’s solar system. Since Earth is integrating into the alliance much slower than the other three planets, there are far more regulations on the comings and goings of non-native ships. It would take half a year just to be granted passage. It simply wouldn't be practical."

"Well what other choice do we have? None of us want me to stay here, and I'm definitely not going to let you kill me."

He glanced to Roman with hostility to help emphasize his point. He really wanted to plant the idea that trying to hurt him would end really bad for them.

"Well the easiest solution would be to take you to a refuge center where you will be well accommodated and able to build a life for yourself. From what I know of humans, you are quite adaptable so the transition..."

Virgil got right up in Logan's face and glared daggers at them.

"Yeah, I'm going to stop you right there. Let's get one thing clear. The only plan I'm going along with is one that ends with me back on Earth."

For the first time since he'd met him, Virgil could see a flicker of emotion cross Logan's face. Fear. Virgil had successfully scared them. For some reason it didn't feel as satisfying as he'd expected. Just then a glowing red blade appeared in front of his face and he couldn’t stop himself from flinching back.

He looked up the blade to see it was, unsurprisingly, Roman holding said blade. He briefly wondered where he’d gotten the weapon when he noticed their sash was missing. How did that work?

"Roman, put that away."

Patton looked at Roman with what could only be described as a disappointed dad look. It appeared to work as the sword turned back into their sash and Roman looked away.

"Anyway." Logan adjusted their tie as they recomposed themselves. "If you both are finished with hostilities, I may have a different solution we might all find acceptable."

Everyone turned to Logan to hear what they had to say.

The human wishes to return to Earth, but we are not allowed to take him. Therefore, all we have to do is find a ship that is."

"And where do we find such a ship, Encyclo-nerd-ida?"

Logan sighed, obviously used to being referred to in such a manner.

"There is a transportation hub and trading post a few systems away, that is in the same direction as the new planet we were sent to study. It will take several days to get there, possibly close to a month if we are also to complete our mission, but it will still be far less time than getting clearance ourselves."

Virgil shrugged, he wasn't too fond of having to spend a month trapped on a ship with people he had to keep scaring into complying with him, but if it got him home, he'd deal.

"I think that's a wonderful plan, don't you Roman?"

Roman frowned towards Virgil before slumping his shoulders.

"Fine, but I'll be keeping my eyes on them while they’re here."

Virgil was starting to understand why Remus hated his whole species. If he had to grow up surrounded by people like Roman, he’d have mental scarring too.

The thought of Remus made his eyes burn but he forced the tears down. Instead he just rolled his eyes.

"Sure whatever, Princey."

"Princey?"

"I assume from your tone you are not actually calling Roman a member of royalty.”

"Uhg, no I'm calling him pompous and stuck up.”

Look now that we have a plan, can I go somewhere to be alone? you guys are giving me a headache."

Patton quickly bounded over and grabbed Virgil's hand.

"Come with me, I'll take you to one of our guest rooms."

He was then led down the hall before he could say anything.

-

The room was pretty standard. It was a calm off white, with an oval shaped bed and a row of empty cabinets with shelves underneath along one wall. There was also a window that showed the wide vastness of space just on the other side.

Patton showed Virgil how to control the lighting and how to get to the bathroom before leaving him alone.

Virgil laid down on the bed on his stomach, his aching back and limbs thanking him. That had been both a train reck and gone better than expected. They were going to find a way for him to get home, but now he was also sure they all hated him. Or at least Roman and Logan did, Patton seemed more interested in keeping what little peace there was. Still if he wanted them to stick to the plan and not just get rid of him, he had to keep scaring them into listening to him. He just hoped he'd be able to keep it up long enough.

-

Elsewhere on the ship, Logan was sitting with several screens floating around them. Their eyes scanned the information as their brow furrowed in worry.

"I see. It seems we have made a grave error. I must remedy this before more damage is done."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did make Logan the same species as the alien in my icon.  
> Guess that kind of makes it cannon to my YouTube channel?


	4. Chapter 4

Virgil woke with a gasp, the last bits of a no longer remembered nightmare sending adrenaline through his system. It was then he realized just how sore and achy he was and collapsed back on the bed. The events of the last few days? Had it really only been a couple days? Came back to him and he groaned. He really didn't feel like being mean and scary right now. He really didn't feel like doing much of anything right now.

Of course, reality wasn't going to be that nice to him as he heard three precise knocks. He glared at the door as if the person on the other side could feel the hostility through it and go away. That, of course, didn't work and three more knocks were heard. He let out another groan before forcing himself into a sitting position. He slouched over in both an attempt to look more confident and menacing, and to ease the pressure on his back injuries.

"Yeah, what is it?"

The door opened to reveal Logan and Virgil's fists clenched.

"What do you want?"

Logan tensed but did take a step into the room.

"I suppose I want a couple of things from this interaction. First is to ease the tension you may have in regarding to me and my crew."

Virgil gave a dark laugh.

"Ease tension? Funny. I already know you guys hate me and I'm not too fond of you guys either, but as long as you keep your word to help me back home I won't do anything to hurt you."

He added that last bit feeling he might have gone too far with admitting he didn't really like them. He didn't want to make them believe he'd hurt them for no reason.

"You believe we hate you?”

Wait what? Because really was that the most important part of what he’d just said? However, Virgil didn’t voice his confusion out loud and simply gave Logan a look like they were stupid. Logan didn’t seem to like that.

"Roman suggested throwing me out the air lock and pointed a glowing sword at me yesterday."

"Ah yes, I suppose I would also like to apologize for his behavior as well. Roman has had a... unpleasant history with humans. It's not my place to elaborate but I can assure you he doesn’t actually want you dead. Roman does not admit to being scared easily and tends to hide it with anger and false bravado. That mixed with his tendency to act rashly tends to result in a lot of things being said he does not actually mean. It does not make what he did alright, but it’s best to not take what he says personally.”

Virgil didn’t respond but did think about what Logan said. If what he said was true, then maybe being scary wasn’t the best rout to take.

Logan seemed to take Virgil’s silence as a prompt to keep going.

“None of us actively hate you, as you have not done anything to warrant such a strong emotion. Yes, you have been aggressive, but you have a right to be angry after everything you've been through. If anything, we are more likely to hate the ones who harmed you as we have seen the results of their heinous actions."

"Oh..."

That was really all Virgil could say, as there wasn't really much else he could respond with.

"I would also like to apologize for my own actions as well. When I suggested taking you to a refuge center I was only thinking of the most convenient solution for my crew. I did not take your feelings on the matter into account. I often have difficulty with understanding other's emotions but that is still not an excuse. I am sorry."

Virgil looked away as a strange feeling twisted in his gut.

"Yeah well I guess I didn’t really handle things well either."

"Perhaps we can start over? Um, clean the slate as you say?"

Virgil didn't know why but he found he liked the idea of starting over with Logan. It would be nice not having to keep up the scary act around them. Although, it was possible Logan was only being nice because he was scared. Maybe he could try at least being civil for now and if it backfired he’d could go back to being scary.

"Sure. Let’s start over. Hi, I'm Virgil. He/Him pronouns."

Logan seemed confused before the metaphorical light bulb went off. "Oh yes humans use gendered pronouns in most of their languages. Salutations, Virgil. I am Logan and I suppose he/him pronouns work for me as well. They should also work for Patton and Roman as well unless they say otherwise. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Same."

"There is one more thing I wanted before I go. Your bandages need to be changed regularly to avoid infection, but since they are on your back you will likely need assistance. However, given your reaction to not having your torso covered yesterday..."

"Are you asking if it's ok for you to change my bandages?"

The skin at where Logan's cheeks would be if he had a mouth changed to a darker pigment.

"Well yes."

Virgil had to force down the smirk coming up at seeing Logan blush. They were starting over and being nice now. Even if the blush was unexpected.

"Sure, just give me a sec."

Virgil grit his teeth as he started to maneuver himself out of the bed.

"It really is remarkable. Most other species would be in far too much pain to move as much as you are, yet you are showing very few signs of stress."

“Just because I’m not showing it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Powering through the pain gets easier the more you do it.”

“Wait, are you saying that you are hiding your pain?”

“Well not really hiding it since I kind of told you I’m in more pain than I’m showing. I’m just used to grinning and baring it.”

“You are far from grinning.”

Logan took several steps forward and placed a firm hand on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil jumped at the contact but forced himself to relax and looked up at Logan with confusion.

“The implications in your words suggest that you have been forced to deal with pain by hiding it before. I can assure you that is not necessary here. Please, do not cause yourself anymore harm. I am perfectly capable of tending to your injuries here.”

“But won’t that make a mess? Wouldn’t it be better to do this in the med-bay?”

Logan slowly guided Virgil back to the bed.

“While it would make clean up easier getting you there would only cause you more pain and as I said that is not necessary as well as counterproductive. Besides having you lay down would make it easier to reach your injuries.”

Virgil sighed and gave in. He had to admit staying in bed did sound really nice. Plus, Logan had said it would make things easier if he laid down, so he wasn’t being an inconvenience.

“I will be right back with the needed supplies. Please, wait here until I return.”

Virgil just nodded as Logan left him alone to process everything that had happened in these last several minutes.

-

Logan was making his way down to the medical bay to grab what he needed, when he ran into Patton.

“Oh, hey Logan. I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“Of course, but it will have to be quick as I am in the middle of getting new bandages for Virgil.”

Patton looked confused before realization crossed his features.

“Oh, is that the human’s name? They told you.”

Logan felt a strange twisting feeling in his gut but nodded curtly to the question. It was illogical for him to feel guilty over a name. They were all going to have to learn it eventually as he was sure Virgil didn’t want to be referred to as ‘the human’ the whole time he was with them. Still he couldn’t shake the feeling like he had betrayed Virgil’s trust.

“Yes, he told me while we were reconciling earlier. He had the impression that we hated him, and I assured him we didn’t.”

A strained look crossed Patton’s face before the smile returned.

“Oh, well I’m glad he doesn’t think that anymore.”

“You said you needed my help with something?”

“Oh, right yes. I started on making breakfast, but I realized that I don’t know what humans are able to eat. Could you look it up?”

“Certainly, just a moment.”

One of his floating screens appeared and he quickly read what it said.

“It seems humans are omnivores and are able to eat nearly anything organic that is typically consumed, aside from cellulose, and isn’t rancid, as well as a few inorganic materials. However, it does say humans do have many food related allergies that could be fatal. It is best to ask Virgil if he has any of these before you give him anything to eat. I can ask him while I change his bandages.”

“That would be great. Thanks, kiddo.”

Patton smiled and turned back down the hall to finish making breakfast for the species he did know how to cook for.

Logan then went into the medical bay to get what he needed to help Virgil.

-

Virgil looked up once Logan returned to the room, holding the needed materials.

“Sorry for the delay. Patton wanted to know what would be safe for you to eat. I looked it up and it said most things are safe unless you have an allergy. Do you have any?”

“Not to any food.”

“Alright, I will inform Patton when we are done. Also, I believe I should tell you that I revealed your name to him on accident. I hope that is alright, I did not mean to betray any trust.”

Virgil was surprised by this. Honestly, he didn’t really care if the other aliens knew his name, but it was nice to know Logan cared enough to be apologetic for telling people without his permission. Maybe he really could trust him without having to scare him.

“Nah it’s fine but thanks for letting me know though. Also, for breakfast I do have a request for coffee. Or really anything with caffeine in it.”

Logan paused in his steps towards the bed.

“I’m sorry, did you say caffeine?”

“Yeah, something wrong?”

“You are able to consume caffeine?”

“Yes… lots of humans drink it every day, it helps us wake up. Now that I think about it, that probably is weird to you since I know both my roommates can’t have it. Guess it’s just a human thing.”

“Yes, it is most definitely unusual for someone to consume a seizure inducing stimulant every day.”

“Yikes, it gives you seizures?”

“Among other side effects yes. Would it be correct to assume humans are immune to such effects?”

“Well I wouldn’t say immune, but it would take a lot of coffee to give someone a seizure. There are other less serious side effects from drinking too much but one cup a day isn’t going to hurt someone.”

“I… see.”

Logan took the last few steps to the bed and set down the medical supplies.

“If coffee is enough to weird you out, you’re going to freak when you hear about alcohol.”

Logan’s fists clenched at the statement, affirming Virgil’s assumption. However, Logan seemed to decide to ignore that at the moment and picked up a bag to dispose the bandages in.

“If either of us want to eat anything soon we should start getting your injuries redressed. Please lay down.”

Virgil obeyed and let Logan remove the old bandages. It hurt a bit, especially when he got to the large cut, but Virgil just clenched his fists as the bandage came off.

“I’m going to have to clean this again as it seems to have only recently stopped bleeding.”

“You’re telling me this because it’s going to sting, right?”

“Correct, also you are allowed to make noise to help you through the process. As I told you before, there is no reason to hide your pain here. I also have some pain killers if you would like to take them.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He held out his hand and Logan placed a pill into it.

“That should be the right dosage. Thankfully the printer is new and already had human medication programed into it. I had to estimate your height and weight but I’m sure it is accurate enough to not make any difference.”

Virgil looked at the pill and turned it over in his hand. Several reasons as to why it would be a bad idea to take medication where the dosage was only guessed went through his head. Maybe he shouldn’t take it. It wasn’t like the pain was really that unbearable, but then again Logan had gone out of his way to make it, so he’d be in less pain. He had also said that even if his measurements were slightly off it wouldn’t make much of a difference. It was a sign to show Virgil he really didn’t hate him. He should take the pill.

Logan noticed Virgil just staring at the pill instead of taking it.

“Is something the matter?”

Virgil clenched a fist over the pill at the question.

“Sorry, my anxiety’s just been getting to me.”

He quickly swallowed down the pill and chased it with the water Logan gave him.

“Anxiety… That is a mental disorder that causes you unnatural amounts of fear and distress, specifically over future events or consequences to actions. Correct?”

“Yeah, you got it. How’d you know? You didn’t really seem to know anything else about humans.”

“Well actually Alnaiens are able to get it as well, although, I’m sure the process is different. I had an acquaintance who is a therapist and picked up a few things from him. Please let me know if there is anything that can be done to help ease any hardships it may cause.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Virgil looked away. No one other than his roommates had ever asked how to make things easier for him before. Most of the time he was expected to just deal with it alone.

Logan went back to cleaning the cut and replacing the bandages. Once he was done, he gathered up the old bandages and threw them away. He then left to go tell Patton that Virgil did not have any allergies so he could finally have some breakfast.

-

A short time later Patton came in with a bowl of what looked like yellow oatmeal. He slowly made his way over to the bed and handed it to him as Virgil stiffly sat up.

“Hey there Virgil, Logan helped me do some more research and I think I got something you’d like.”

He took a step back and rung his hands together as he waited for Virgil’s reaction.

Virgil looked down at the strange dish in apprehension. His stomach then reminded him that he hadn’t eaten anything since that bland meat soup his captors gave him, so he hesitantly took a bite. It was good. Really good. It did have the same texture as oatmeal but also tasted sweet and just a little bit tart, like fresh apples. Virgil didn’t even notice when the bowl had been emptied.

“Wow you ate that really fast.” Patton’s smile fell as something seemed to occur to him. “Did the… people who captured you, not feed you?”

Virgil winced. He really didn’t want to think about that right now, but the heartbroken look Patton was giving him made him want to say something to comfort him. Yeah he’d really been kidding himself that he’d be able to keep the scary act up when Patton kept making him feel like this.

“Well I wasn’t with them long, but they did give me a bowl of soup. It wasn’t very good though. I think this was the first time I’ve had good tasting food since I was home.”

“Oh…”

Virgil could feel the awkwardness settle around them and he knew his anxiety would latch onto it if it went on any longer.

“Thanks for… you know, getting me out of there. I don’t think I said that yet.”

“Of course, you were hurt and scared. Even with all the smugglers locked up we couldn’t just leave you there.”

“Well you still deserved to be thanked though. I don’t think I could have lasted much longer. I was only there for a couple of days and they’d already beaten me to a pulp for not letting them put a shock collar on me.”

Patton seemed to tense at that, but Virgil was distracted when he heard a small clinking sound. He looked down to see the spoon had started rattling in the bowl he was holding. On further inspection he realized it was because his hands were shaking.

Patton slowly took the bowl and set it aside. He then reached out as if to hold Virgil’s hands before stopping.

“Would it be ok if I…”

Virgil nodded and Patton took his hands into his.

“Virgil, I promise, you will never go through anything like that again. We are going to get you home and you will be safe.”

Virgil looked down at the hands holding his. They were warm and the fur was soft. He wanted to believe that what Patton said was true and surprisingly he found that he did. He felt his lips quirk up into a small but real smile as the anxiety slowly went down.

“Thanks, but let’s not talk about what happened anymore. Ok?”

“Of course. You should get some more rest. You’re still healing.”

“Yeah, yeah, already got the ‘don’t push myself too hard’ speech from Logan.”

Virgil did lie down and closed his eyes as Patton took the bowl and left the room.

-

Once outside the room Patton’s face fell into a frown. He walked off towards the kitchen but not before passing Roman in the hall.

Roman took in Patton’s sad appearance and his fists clenched. He looked to the door to Virgil’s room and narrowed his eyes. However, he seemed to think better of it and went to his own room.

He then opened a cabinet and bent down to grab something from the bottom shelf. He pulled out a sash much like the one he was wearing aside from the color. This one was a bright green and he held it in his hands like it was something fragile and precious.

“I refuse to let them take anyone else.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is finally healed enough to get out of bed. Now if only Roman would stop being a jerk.

For the next few days Virgil remained in his room resting and healing. Patton and Logan would periodically come in to respectively give him food and check on his injuries. They also provided conversation and entertainment to help keep the boredom at bay. Patton had nearly cried when Logan brought up humans would prefer to physically harm themselves over being board and Virgil had to do a lot of reassuring that he wasn’t in danger of doing that.

That didn’t stop the two from doing what they could to keep him entertained. Thankfully it wasn’t that hard.

Apparently, Patton’s species, which he learned were called Poggills, because of course it would be something cute, were masters at creating the addicting mobile game. Virgil would waist several hours playing them on his new data pad, given to him by Logan after discovering his phone had been taken by the aliens who captured him.

The only times he wasn’t playing them now was when he was taking care of bodily needs or when talking to Patton or Logan. Logan would answer Virgil’s questions about the ship and their mission while asking questions about humans in return. Patton on the other hand talked about pretty much anything with Virgil. Everything from the games he’d been playing to they’re lives back on their home planets was talked about. Of course, there was one topic that had remained off limits and Virgil was grateful Patton kept his word about not bringing it up. Although, he had a feeling Patton was just as uncomfortable about it as him.

Logan and Patton were the only ones who came to talk as it seemed Roman still wasn’t over his distrust. Although, he did occasionally see a glimpse of him when one of the others came in, apparently making sure Virgil didn’t hurt them. As if Virgil could ever bring himself to hurt anyone unprovoked, especially someone like Patton.

During his talks he learned quite a bit. He learned that the ship was called the Mind-palace and the crew, consisting of Patton, Logan, and Roman, were explorers sent to check out a new planet that could sustain life. The planet was on the way to the transportation hub, so they were going to quickly fulfill their mission before heading over to the hub and finding him a ship to take him home. Virgil was of course anxious about the detour but was reassured by both Patton and Logan that it’ll only be a short stop and wouldn’t be more than a day at most. He decided he could agree to that.

“My parents had the same job.”

Where had that come from? Virgil didn’t talk about his parents with anyone. Not even Dee and Remus who’d actually known them.

“Pardon?”

Logan had paused in checking over Virgil’s injuries.

“Oh uh, it’s not really important. Just my parents, kind of did the same stuff you guys do. I mean, they went to planets that were already scoped out and did more of the stuff beyond the basic scan.”

“A noble pursuit. You must be… proud of them.”

Normally Logan’s stumbling over mentioning feelings would have gotten a snort or eyeroll from Virgil, but with the current topic he didn’t really feel up for it.

“Yeah, they were really good people.”

Logan looked troubled for a moment and glanced to the side like he did when trying to figure out how to approach an emotional subject.

“I apologize if this is not something you wish to discuss with me, but you used the past tense when referring to your parents.”

“Yeah, um maybe we can put that on the list of things we don’t talk about?”

“Of course, I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who brought them up.”

“Well to change the topic to a more recent event it seems your injuries have healed quite nicely aside from the slight scarring from the deepest cut.”

“Yeah that was expected. Just glad I didn’t need stitches.”

Logan closed his eyes and took a breath. How he did that without a mouth or nose Virgil had no idea, but it seemed to calm him.

“Please don’t bring up human medical practices. While they may be effective, they are far more invasive than they need to be.”

Virgil smirked.

“Hey not my fault humans don’t know a better way than stabbing people back to life.”

Logan’s fists clenched.

“There are too many things wrong with that statement to address in any kind of timely manner. May this also be a topic put on the list of things we do not talk about?”

Virgil nodded, his own melancholy mood lifting from the light teasing he’d done.

“Sure.”

“Excellent, then as I was saying. Your injuries have mostly healed, so if you are up to it you are free to leave the room now as it will not exacerbate your injuries anymore. You may even join us for lunch if you would like.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah sure.”

Virgil grabbed his shirt and hoodie to put back on as he got out of the bed, with far more ease than he’d had before. However, when he got to the door, he felt the familiar tingle of anxiety creep up his spine. It was a similar feeling to when he’d first walked out of the medical bay but lessened from the fact Virgil wasn’t so exposed and knew what to expect. He was able to get through that fear before, he’d get through it now. Just one step in front of the other.

He exited the room and followed the path he remembered to the common room, Logan right behind him.

-

Once in the common room it wasn’t that hard to find the kitchen and dining room. He took a step into the room and froze. There sitting at the table across from him was Roman, glaring daggers at him.

Oh… right, Virgil had forgotten about him.

“What is he doing here?”

Thankfully Logan saved Virgil from having to answer.

“His injuries have healed so I invited him to have lunch with us instead of it having to be brought to his room.”

Roman looked from Virgil to Logan. Whatever look Logan gave him seemed to work as the Fae-lil deflated and looked away.

“That was nice of you Logan.” Patton smiled from his seat next to Roman and turned his attention to Virgil. “We’d love to have you join us for lunch, Virgil. I’ll go get your meal.”

Patton stood up and ran past Virgil and Logan into the kitchen.

Logan sat down and Virgil took the seat next to him, making sure to avoid eye contact with Roman.

That was when Patton came back in with a bowl of some kind of soup. He placed it down in front of Virgil and then took the seat between him and Roman.

Virgil took a spoon full of the soup and smiled at the taste. It was a lot thicker than the first soup he’d had. The base being more of a vegetable puree with larger bits of vegetable and seasoned meat mixed in. He continued eating as he tuned into the conversation around him.

“How much longer until we get to the new planet?”

“About another four and a half days. We should probably start getting the equipment out by tomorrow if we want to set it up by the time we get there. “

“Right, good idea, Logan.”

“So, what are we going to do with him while we’re doing our work?”

Roman motioned to Virgil.

Virgil rolled his eyes. He knew that Roman was lashing out, as Logan had put it, but part of him didn’t really want to make nice with Roman either. Thanks to Remus, he didn’t have a very good impression of other Fae-lils. Sure, Roman was probably not one of the ones who’d hurt Remus but if Roman was going to generalize then so was Virgil.

“What still don’t trust me, Princey?”

“You say that like I ever will.”

“Oh, finally talking to me directly?”

Roman just glared.

“Roman does bring up a good point. Although, far more hostile than needed. We will all be on the planet’s surface, collecting data and exploring and the ship will be on standby mode during that time. It would not be ideal for you to be left alone here with most automated systems turned off.”

“Are you saying I should come with you?”

“That would be most optimal. The ship is not meant to be occupied when idle and it would not take that much change in planning to accommodate your presence. In fact, having you with us may be beneficial as another person there could make the process go much faster.”

Virgil shrugged. Of course, he was nervous about setting foot on a planet no one knew anything about, but he didn’t really like the idea of being left alone on a spaceship with everything shut off either. Going to the planet did sound like the best option. Especially if it meant they could finish the mission faster and get back to getting him home sooner.

“Yeah, that makes sense. You said it shouldn’t take more than a day to get what you need right?”

“Correct, we are only doing the basic scans and observation to determine how best to conduct further research in the future.”

“Guess I’m going with you then.”

-

The days leading up to arriving at the planet were a bit of a blur for Virgil. All of the ship’s crew were busy getting out and assembling what looked to be large drones and a few other devices he couldn’t identify. Even Roman was too immersed in his work to glare too long at him. He had to admit that was nice.

However, the last day eventually arrived and all the equipment had been assembled. Patton decided it would be nice to have a game night to help ease the stress of the last few days before they have to get back to work the next day.

Virgil declined, stating he didn’t actually do anything and wouldn’t even know how to play a non-Earth game anyway. In reality he didn’t really want to play a game with Roman. He had a bad feeling any competition between them would turn ugly fast. He was able to persuade Patton by agreeing to watch and learn the rules of the game that way.

The game appeared to be a strange combination of uno and Jenga, which by the end Virgil was completely lost about the rules. It looked like they were all having fun and Virgil found that he was enjoying himself as well. It almost felt like it did when he was with Dee and Remus.

The familiar ache came from remembering them but this time it wasn’t as heart-wrenching. It still hurt but now the empty pit in his stomach was gone. He realized that was the fear. The fear of never seeing them again was gone. It had finally hit him that he was going home.

-

Far away on a planet much closer to the center of the galactic society, a Poggill smuggler ran down an alley as they tried to get away from their two pursuers. That was a bad move as the alley stopped abruptly at a dead end.

“Still trying to get away?”

The Poggill tensed and turned as two figures stepped into the circle of light given off by the lamp behind them.

Dee and Remus glared at the Poggle, murder in both their eyes.

“Now you are going to tell us what happened to the human on that ship you were going to meet here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t bother lying because I’ll know.” Dee tapped a finger to his scales. “And my friend here can be pretty creative on what to do to liars.”

Remus smiled darkly.

“Always wondered what would happen if someone ate their own internal organs.”

“Ok! Ok! I’ll tell you!”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman realizes he was wrong.

The next day things were just as hectic as the last four had been but now Virgil was swept up in it.

Since he was going to be going to the planet with them, he had to be properly equipped and knew what everyone would be doing. Virgil made sure to pay attention. It wouldn’t do for him to get the chance to go home only to get trapped or die on an alien planet.

Once everyone had been probably suited up and plans had been set, they all entered the reentry shuttle. Logan had explained that it was much more efficient to use the small shuttle to land on a planet than taking the whole ship with them.

The realization that if he’d decided to stay, he’d be literally miles away from the others hit Virgil after that explanation and he was very glad he agreed to come along.

Once inside he noticed the shuttle was big enough to hold six passengers along with the equipment they were bringing. He took one of the seats closest to the doors despite knowing it would be impossible for him to exit said doors. Anxiety wasn’t exactly logical, but neither were the ways in which it was satisfied.

-

The ride down was a bit bumpier than he’d expected, although still smoother than anything from a human made craft. Virgil was very thankful for the seat belts that automatically strapped over him once the shuttle had ejected from the ship.

The landing, however, was extremely smooth and it took a second for him to even realize they were on the planets surface. The doors opened and the crew was met with a strange view. Tall purple plants stretched over their heads blocking out a large portion of the sunlight above them.

Logan walked out and placed a small clear dome on the ground. He tapped it and it started to give off a bright glow similar to a campfire. It illuminated their surroundings enough for them to see several feet around them, but the vegetation was too thick to see much farther than the first row of leaves.

“This is not ideal. There is barely enough room to set up the drones and launch them without being hindered by the local flora. This may take more time than anticipated.”

“How much longer?”

Virgil glanced around him, not liking how limited their knowledge of their surroundings were.

“We’re going to have to launch the flying drones from the top of the shuttle to avoid collision. That will add at least another hour to get all of them up there instead of launching them from the ground. However, first we need to set up the motion sensors to warn us of any hostel fauna that maybe nearby as well as the force field generator. All together we should have everything set up and operational by the planets sunset.”

Virgil nodded having memorized all the safety precautions when they were explained to him.

“Right, I’ll go help Patton get the stuff out.”

Once everyone had fallen into their rolls it didn’t take too long to get everything set up. The most time-consuming part was launching the flying drones as they all had to be launched at least ten minutes apart from each other so there wouldn’t be any collision, plus the additional time of having to get them onto the shuttle’s roof in the first place. It would have been easier to find a bigger clearing that would have given the space to launch more than one at a time but given how little they knew of the planet it was safer to stay within the protective perimeter.

Virgil didn’t mind that. Even if he wanted to get home as soon as possible he was not willing to risk whatever dangers this unexplored planet might have to do so. Still it seemed that Logan was correct in how much time it would take them as they watched the last drone fly off into the rapidly darkening sky.

It was strange. Virgil had thought he’d want this research trip to end as fast as possible so he could get home sooner, but he found he’d really enjoyed his time there. He’d been able to talk to the others and take breaks when things got to strenuous. He and Roman had even had their walls accidentally slip and their jabs had started to become more teasing and lighthearted before they realized what had happened. It had been fun. Was this what having a job you liked felt like?

Eventually it did end, and they had to start packing up. Virgil felt bittersweet about it, but he quickly shook the feeling off.

The pack up didn’t take too long since most of what they unpacked they were leaving behind but they did need to dismantle the protective perimeter around them before they left. That would be easy enough. They’d been there for hours and nothing as much as a bug had come through the thick brush. It would just be a matter of pulling up the motion detectors and deactivating the force field generator. No more than ten minutes and they’d be off.

That would be if the lack of animals had stayed consistent for just a few moments longer.

They’d all started at different parts of the boarder to make the process go as quickly as possible and reduce risk. Of course, reducing risk did not mean no risk at all.

A high-pitched shriek rang over the small clearing, followed by shouting.

“Back fowl beast!”

Yeah that was definitely Roman and as luck would have it, Virgil just so happened to be the closest person to help.

Virgil quickly turned and started running in the direction of the shouts, dropping the motion detectors he’d already pulled up as he did so. However, what he saw when he reached Roman almost made him stop in his tracks. A beast with fur so black his eyes barely registered it as a three dimensional being. The teeth and claws however were very much solid and right now aimed at Roman.

Roman slashed at the creature but his glowing sword seemed to do very little in harming it. Or at least the beast didn’t seem to care about whatever damage the blade caused. It was very hard to see anything when the only light was from the small dome several feet away.

Virgil didn’t think he just ran. He grabbed hold of Roman’s wing tassel things and pulled him back just as a large clawed foot came down where he’d been moments before.

“Run!”

Roman didn’t argue and ran towards Logan and Patton who’d come to see what the commotion was about. Unfortunately, the creature wasn’t going to give up that easily and bounded after them. It made another swipe at Roman as he was the bigger target but Virgil pushed him out of the way, narrowly dodging the claws himself.

Thankfully Logan had the foresight to stand next to the force field generator and quickly activated it once Virgil and Roman were close enough. A transparent wall rose up between them and the beast, effectively cutting it off from its pursuit. It snarled and clawed at the shield but it was no use. Eventually it seemed to get tired and wondered off to find easier pray.

After the shock and fear wore off Roman looked to Virgil with wide eyes.

“You… saved me.”

“Yeah well didn’t look like your toy was doing much so you had to get away from it somehow.”

Roman didn’t seem to take the bate and just continued to stare at him.

“But you could have gotten hurt. You’re still not completely healed from when we found you. What if…?”

“Please don’t bring up what could have happened. I’m really trying not to think about that right now. Also, I don’t hate you. Yeah, I don’t like the way you treat me, and I don’t really have a good impression of Fae-lils in general due to other outside factors, but I don’t hate you. As Logan said hate is a strong emotion and you really haven’t done anything bad enough for that. I’ve got plenty of other people to hate.”

“Oh…”

A mix of emotions crossed Roman’s face but he remained quiet.

“Anyway, let’s get back to the ship. It’s been a long day and I’m missing my bed.”

Everyone nodded and quickly finished the last of the pack up. Thankfully they’d all managed to get most of the motion detectors within the perimeter of the force field and they were able to finish with in the safety of the glowing shield. It didn’t take long for them to get back on the shuttle and head back to the ship.

Once back on the ship everyone went to their rooms for a well-deserved rest.

-

A few hours later Virgil was woken up by the sound of knocking on his door. However, it wasn’t the kind he was used to from Logan or Patton, which meant it could only be one other person. Honestly, he wasn’t really surprised.

He was surprised at how broken Roman looked. His hair was a mess, his cloths were wrinkled, and his confident air about him was gone. It had almost looked like…

“Roman… were you crying?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for how I treated you. That was… wrong. You’re not any of the humans who took my brother I shouldn’t have acted as if you were.”

“Your brother was taken by humans?”

“Logan and Patton didn’t tell you?”

“They said it wasn’t their place to tell. They just said you had a bad experience with humans.”

Virgil’s mind was reeling. No wonder Roman had been so hostel. He couldn’t imagine what losing someone like that would be like. Part of him reminded himself that Dee and Remus were probably going through that right now, but he shelved that thought for later. He had an upset Roman to deal with right now.

“That sounds like them.”

“Do you, I don’t know, want to talk about it or something?”

Yikes he was bad at this.

Roman gave a shrug.

“I’m not really good at talking about my feelings, but yeah I should probably tell you.”

“You’re not alone in the bad about talking about feelings department. You don’t have to.”

“No, I think it would be good to talk about it.”

Virgil nodded and let Roman into his room. They both sat down on the bed and Roman gave a sigh.

“My world was not as technologically advanced as the other ones in the galactic alliance when we first joined. That made us feel rather vulnerable. Trade and integration helped with that but then we learned about humans. Everything we learned just made them sound more and more threatening. Apparently, you humans have a reputation for being rather invulnerable and unstoppable. It kind of made us scared again.”

Virgil gave a nod and made a motion for Roman to go on. Some of this he’d been able to guess but it was nice to have context.

“So, when we found out the research team that we agreed to do some testing just outside of the village was mostly humans, we were understandably worried. The Grand Leader told us he would keep us safe by making sure he knew where all the humans were at all times. I believed him, but my brother didn’t. Of course, he never really liked anything about The Grand Leader so I just kind of ignored it. I really shouldn’t have.”

Roman rubbed at his eyes as if trying to brush away tears.

“I don’t remember what we were doing or why, I just remember we were out in the forest where The Grand Leader said it was safe. I was on the ground but my brother… he always liked doing things unconventionally... and very recklessly. He was jumping around in the tree branches and scaring me by pretending to fall. Until he wasn’t pretending anymore…”

“It was a very long fall and we also happened to be in a part of the forest with a lot of large rocks. I don’t think you’d want to know any of the details of what he looked like when he landed. Although, if my brother were the one telling the story he’d probably be more than happy to tell you all of them.”

“Can’t be any worse than the things my roommate has told me.”

They both gave a well needed laugh before Roman continued his story.

“Anyway, my brother was hurt badly, but he was alive. I wanted to go back to the village to get help, even though I knew we didn’t have the medical advancement to actually save him, but he refused to let me go until he told me something. That’s when the humans showed up. I tried to keep them away but they insisted they could help, and I was too young to really stop them. They took him to their camp and told me they’d return him once he was better. Of course, I didn’t believe them and ran back to the village to get help.”

“I told The Grand Leader everything, the fall, my brother refusing to let me get help before he told me something, and the humans taking him away. The Grand Leader listened and promised he’d do everything he could to get him back. I just needed to tell him everything my brother was showing me through our link.”

“Link?”

“Oh right.”

Roman placed a hand on his horns.

“Fae-lils are able to kind of communicate with our horns. Mostly it’s just kind of sensing where someone is but since my brother and I were twins we were able to show each other actual images of what we were seeing. For a while it seemed like the humans were doing what they said they were since my brother showed me a lot of images that looked like a medical bay. Then a few days later I saw a door and then the woods. He was out and coming home.”

“I told The Grand Leader and he told me to keep showing him images of the forest’s edge where I was waiting for him, while he and some of the hunters would go make sure none of the humans were following him.”

Roman’s hands started shaking and he gripped the bed to make them stop.

“You don’t have to tell me anymore if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to.”

He took a breath and continued.

“I did what I was told. My brother and I continued to send each other images through our link. Then suddenly... the images just stopped. I could also feel he wasn’t getting any closer, so I knew something was wrong and started running. I ran with the only thing guiding me being our link, and then… it was gone. Just like that I could no longer feel him, our link was severed.”

“I eventually found The Grand Leader and hunters and found out what happened. Apparently, the humans had lied about being a research group from the alliance and were actually smugglers. When my brother found out he tried to escape but they followed him. He only managed to tell The Grand Leader this when they attacked. The Grand Leader told me he tried to keep my brother safe, but the humans out numbered them. They managed to grab my brother and… they broke his horns. The Grand Leader and the hunters fought back valiantly and drove the humans off, but only when the battle was over, did they realize the humans had taken my brother with them.”

Once the story had ended the room grew quiet. Virgil had no idea what to say.

“You can see why I wanted to tell you now, and how much of a horrible person I am for how I treated you.”

“What?”

“My brother was hurt taken away by smugglers just as you were, but instead of seeing that and helping you the way I wished I could help him, all I saw was your species. I treated you so poorly and it pains me to think of someone treating my brother like that. I’m sorry.”

That caught Virgil off guard.

“Well I tried, and I still feel bad. I’ll just go now.”

“Wait.”

Roman stopped and looked to Virgil.

“Yeah what you did was really shitty, but it wouldn’t have gotten so bad if I didn’t also egg you on. After the first day you were pretty much just ignoring and avoiding me, I was the one who pushed you in to fights. So, like I know it’s kind of late, now that I’m only going to be here for one more week, but we could try to start over? No more angry hostility.”

Roman smiled.

“Sounds grand.”

-

Orange slit eyes looked over a screen after opening a message that popped up.

“So, this is the crew that interrupted my smuggling ship, hm?”

He scrolled up.

“And their most likely next stop is at the Gnal trading and travel hub.”

A dark grin spread over the man’s face.

“Looks like the perfect place to retrieve some stolen property.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was difficult to write. I really wanted to make Roman's story sound believable while also showing hints to where it wasn't accurate. I hope that came through. Let me know if anything is unclear.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's last night with Patton, Logan, and Roman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to be a lot longer but then it ended up being over 15 pages long so I ended up breaking it up. I know you all want a reunion, but don't worry it's coming along with a lot of other fun stuff. :)

The next week was actually pretty great. Now that Roman and Virgil were no longer glaring at each other every second they were in the same room they found their personalities meshed pretty well together. They still traded insults but now it was more playful and teasing than anything malicious and the one time they had a game night had ended in the two’s competitive streaks taking over and somehow Virgil had learned to play five different alien games in the span of three hours. Both Patton and Logan had agreed it was very entertaining to watch.

Unfortunately, the last day came and they soon would have to part ways. However, Virgil found he wasn’t looking forward to that as much as he thought he would. Sure, he desperately wanted to see Dee and Remus again, but that was pretty much the only thing he wanted from his old life. He realized that a lot of his life back on Earth had sucked, a lot. It would be hard giving up what he had now to go back to that.

Maybe he would quit his job at the amusement park and join Dee and Remus at the airport. After everything he’d been through, his previous fears of quitting felt almost mundane. That was if he still even had a job to quit. His boss was not the kind of person who would forgive a month’s absence with no notice.

He decided that was a problem for future Virgil as right now he was on the common room couch with Logan as Roman set up a movie and Patton made snacks. Since this was the last night he was going to be on the ship, the crew had decided to make it a movie night.

Patton came back into the room, arms piled high with different bowls and plates, just as Roman got the movie to start playing. Virgil dipped a green chip into something that looked like salsa only to find it a strange mix of sweet and bitter and had to stop himself from spitting it out. If there was one other thing from Earth he missed, it was spicy food. The look on Logan’s face when he told him that he enjoyed the taste of his mouth on fire had been hilarious.

He swallowed the concoction with a large gulp of water and looked up at the screen. Only to do a double take at the familiar logo of an ark appearing over a castle.

“You guys have Disney movies?”

“But of course. While all species in the alliance are able to craft wonderful tales, none have been able to capture such stunning visual beauty as Earth’s animation.”

“Ever since Earth became part of the alliance your more popular media has made its way to the wider galactic audience.”

“And by far nothing is able to surpass Disney.”

Well Virgil couldn’t really argue with that. He’d been a hard-core Disney fan for as long as he could remember. Especially when he started to realize the darker elements of the movies. It would also be nice to just watch the movie without a lecture on monopoly companies or a rant on how Laika was so much better.

“We also wanted to give you something that felt like home. This may be your last night with us, but you still have a long journey back to Earth. We thought you might like something familiar.”

Virgil smiled.

“Thanks Pat, you were right.”

Patton smiled and held his hands out in an offer of a hug.

“Not tonight, sorry. How about I just lean on you during the movie?”

Patton dropped his hands but smiled wide and nodded at the compromise.

Virgil relaxed it was really nice that everyone had been so willing to respect his boundaries with physical contact and just make things easier for him over all. He leaned over to rest his shoulder against Patton’s as the opening credits ended and the movie played.

-

After the movie was over and both Virgil and Roman had lovingly ripped the plot to pieces, they all decided that it was time for bed. Except no one actually moved to get up.

“Slumber party?”

Everyone looked to each other and nodded. Logan pressed a button on the arm of the couch and soon they were all laying on a large bed, plenty big enough for all four of them to sleep comfortably on and still have room for two more. Roman grabbed a blanket from behind the bed and tossed it over all of them.

Virgil found himself between Patton and Roman and he felt himself relax into the plush beneath him.

“This ok, Into the Void? Not too much contact?”

Virgil nodded.

“Yeah I’m good. I’ll let you know if it gets to be too much.”

Roman nodded then turned to Logan.

“What about you, Datta pad?”

“I am comfortable with the current arrangement and will inform you if adjustments are needed.”

With that the lights were turned off and they all settled in for their last night together.

-

Morning came far too quickly and if it took a bit longer for everyone to get up than it normally did no one said anything.

Logan was the first to move. He sat up and pulled up one of his transparent screens.

“Looks like we are in the hub’s orbital space. We need to make contact and reserve a position to land.”

Patton was the second one up.

“I’ll go make breakfast then. Anyone have any requests?”

Virgil rolled onto his back and looked up at Patton.

“I liked what you made me the first day I was here.”

“Got it.”

Patton got out of the bed and headed for the kitchen as Logan went into another room to probably talk about landing in the hub. That just left him and Roman.

“So, this is it huh? Soon you’ll be on a different ship heading home.”

“Yeah…”

Virgil played with the end of the blanket.

“We’re going to miss you.”

Virgil looked up with a surprised expression.

“What?”

“Oh, don’t be so surprised. Somehow, you’re dark and gloomy attitude has endeared us to you. And while it took me longer than the others, we all see you as our friend.”

“Oh.”

Virgil went back to playing with the blanket. Sure, he knew the crew liked him now that they’d all dropped their hostilities, but friends? The only people he ever called friends were Dee and Remus and he’d lived with them for half his life. He been with these people for only a month, less with Roman, and they were willing to call him a friend just like that?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Patton came back into the room announcing that breakfast was ready. That seemed to be the perfect time as that was when Logan came back as well. Everyone followed Patton into the kitchen and sat down to eat.

Virgil got ready to dig in when a smell he did not expect reached his nose. He looked down at his cup to see a steaming dark brown liquid sitting in it.

“No way. Patton is this...?”

“Yeah I finally found out how to add earth food to the synthesizer and wanted to make you something special. Sorry it took so long. I can make you a real Earth breakfast if you want.”

“No Pat. This is more than enough. Thank you.”

Patton beamed and they all went back to eating.

Not long into the meal a small ding was heard from Logan’s seat and he pulled up his screen again.

“I got the pass to enter. We will be landing within the hour.”

A feeling of unease settled over them.

“That’s good to hear. It shouldn’t take that long to find Virgil a ride back home then.”

“Yeah…”

Virgil pushed the food around in his bowl, appetite suddenly gone.

“Is something wrong, Virgil?”

Virgil looked up and locked eyes with Patton. For the briefest of moments Virgil thought about telling him he didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay with them. He wanted to joke with Patton, have deep conversations with Logan, and banter with Roman. He wanted to explore new worlds with them and not have to worry about how everyone else around him saw him as nothing.

But he knew he couldn’t do that. Not only did he still miss Dee and Remus, but he also knew it was impossible for him to stay. Sure, the ship was definitely built to accommodate far more than just three people, but it was more than space and resources. He wasn’t one of them. Exploring new worlds and collecting data wasn’t his job and that’s what this ship was for. It would be wrong for him to stay when he didn’t belong.

“Guess it’s just finally sinking in. Just a little overwhelmed.”

“That’s understandable, but I’m sure you’re excited to go home.”

“Yeah, home…”

-

Not that far away another ship started making it’s way down to the docking bay of the hub.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil runs into some familiar faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remus is very Remus

By the time they all had finished breakfast and gotten ready for the day the ship had landed. Once off, they all looked around to see where they were and get their bearings.

“Since our goal is to find a ship able to take Virgil home, first course of action would be to get a roster of all the ships here. From there we can narrow down the ships willing and able to return Virgil to Earth.”

“Sounds good, but where are we going to get a list of all the ships here?”

“There should be an information post nearby. If they are not able to provide us with a list, they will tell us where we can find one.”

Everyone agreed this was the best first step and headed off to find the information they needed.

-

Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard to find an information desk. Logan, Patton, and Roman went up to talk to the person at the desk while Virgil hung back a bit. He was too overwhelmed by all the people around he didn’t think he could handle any attention on him, even if the others were doing all the talking. He was fine just blending into the background for now.

That was probably why the next few moments jarred him so much.

“VIRGIL!”

Virgil jumped at the shout and gave a yelp as he felt himself lifted into a very, familiar feeling, bone crushing hug.

“Wha… no way…”

Virgil looked up and had to blink several times to make sure what he was seeing was real.

“Remus?”

Remus broke into a huge grin and placed Virgil back down.

“Sorry for not asking first, I couldn’t help myself.”

Virgil smiled. He was still clinging to Remus’ arm as if scared he’d disappear if he let go.

“It’s fine, I’d probably want to do the same if I saw you first.”

“Nah, you think too much to do something like that.”

Remus gently flicked him on the forehead.

“How did you get here? Is Dee here?”

“No, I stayed on Earth and let this walking hurricane go off on his own, because I totally don’t care that you were fucking abducted.”

Virgil snorted.

“Just hug me already.”

Dee’s face softened and he hugged Virgil close.

“How’d you guys even get here?”

Dee opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off by another voice.

“Virgil? What’s going on?”

Instantly Dee and Remus’ attitudes shifted as they looked to see Patton, both protectively shielding Virgil from him. Virgil realized what was going on instantly and quickly tried to get in between them before misunderstandings turned this ugly.

“Wait guys no. Patton’s cool. He and the other members of his crew saved me.”

“Patton what appears to be the matter?”

Logan came over from the desk followed by Roman who scanned over the scene in front of them and stopped dead when his eyes locked with Remus’.

“No way.”

“Holy fucking shit.”

The two Fae-lils stared at each other for what seemed like forever, their horns giving off a soft glow as they seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes.

“Remus?”

Remus nodded.

“You’re alive. How…”

Virgil’s eyes went wide as the pieces suddenly clicked for him.

“Wait Remus is your brother?”

Roman nodded before a look of confusion crossed his face.

“Wait a minute how did you not realize that? You know him and I literally told you the story six days ago.”

Virgil looked from Roman to Remus and back. Yikes this was even more of a mess than he thought. Part of him wanted to ask how Roman could tell a whole story about someone and never mention their name, but he knew that wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Uh yeah you guys might want to trade notes because I think you might be missing a few details in that story.”

“Yes, it would most likely benefit all of us if we were to talk. Although, perhaps in a less crowded area.”

Everyone seemed to agree with that and headed out of the hub’s center. Virgil found himself flanked on either side by Dee and Remus, slightly cutting him off from the others. Remus had seemed to relax after realizing Roman was with them, but Dee seemed just as protective as ever. Virgil would catch him glaring at the crew, mostly Patton, as they walked, mistrust clear on his face.

Once they were far enough away from the majority of the people, they found what looked to be a picnic table and sat down. Virgil between Dee and Remus on one side with Patton, Logan, and Roman on the other.

Logan was the first to speak.

“So, it seems we all have quite a few questions. Who would like to go first?”

Roman didn’t even hesitate.

“Yeah I have a question. Remus, how did you get away from the smugglers that captured you?”

Remus’ face became one of confusion.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Language.”

Remus rolled his eyes at Patton before looking back to his brother.

“What smugglers?”

“The human smugglers that captured you and took you off planet.”

Remus stared at Roman for a second before bursting into laughter.

“Oh man, you hear that Virge? Ro here thinks your parents were smugglers.”

Virgil grimaced and quickly looked to Roman to see his reaction. Roman, however, just seemed dumfounded by his brother’s reaction.

“Where’d you get that? They told us they were researchers from the alliance.”

Roman’s confusion only seemed to grow.

“But the Grand Leader said…”

Instantly Remus’ laughing stopped, and he suddenly got quiet. Virgil tensed and shifted closer to Dee, knowing that was not a good sign.

“You listened to the Grand Leader...”

Roman looked taken aback by that.

“Of course, he’s the Grand Leader, and the last person to see you before you were taken.”

Several emotions crossed Remus’ face, shock, hurt, anger, then landing on betrayal.

“No... I showed you...you know he...” 

Tears started to form in his eyes and before Dee or Virgil could do anything Roman grabbed Remus’ hand. Remus looked down then back up at Roman confused and slightly scared. 

Roman seemed to know what his brother was thinking and slowly let the hand go as if to show he was no threat.

“I don’t think I do know. The last thing you showed me was the forest before the images stopped coming.”

Realization suddenly bloomed over Remus’ face.

“He blocked the images. Of course, you wouldn’t know...”

He started to laugh again but there was no humor behind it.

“Even when I have nothing left to lose, he still finds a way to win.”

Both Virgil and Dee turned to Remus ready to spring into action if things started to go south. This conversation was heading in a direction Remus had avoided for close to a decade now. Virgil was surprised they’d gotten this far even with Remus dancing around actually saying what happened. It was weird not having him be overly blunt and honest about something.

“What are you talking about?”

Remus’ eyes quickly snapped back into focus as he looked at Roman.

“The images stopped before my horns were broken, didn’t they?”

Roman’s eyes flashed with a flicker of realization before more confusion replaced it.

“Yes, the images just suddenly stopped, but I could still feel where you were.”

Roman’s eyes suddenly went wide.

“The Grand Leader said he talked to you before you were taken but if that was true you would have shown it to me.”

“Exactly. See what happens when you start questioning the things you’re told?”

“But that means he was lying.”

“Yeah he tens to do that a lot.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know, maybe because he has a lot to hide. Like how he’s not the benevolent ruler he tells everyone he is. How he kept us all in the fucking dark ages for far longer than needed when the alliance was just giving us everything to catch up. Or maybe how he liked hurting anyone who dared disobey him. Including little kids who asked too many invasive questions.”

As Remus talked his eyes became more and more unfocused and his hands had started to tug at his hair and horns. His breaths started to become shallow and his body shook.

“Have you ever thought of driving a knife into someones throat? To see the point where they realize what’s going to happen and knowing they can’t stop it? Feeling the blood over your fingers as it bubbles out and staining everything black?”

Virgil and Dee were up in an instant, Dee slowly pulling Remus’ hands away from his head as Virgil guided him through a grounding exercise. The other three aliens watched the exchange quietly, none knowing what to do.

Once Remus had calmed and was no longer on the verge of a break down, they settled into a bit of an awkward silence. Roman was the one to break it though it seemed he was more talking to himself than anything.

“He really hurt you… How did I not see it?”

“People who hurt people are very good at hiding it. At least from people who care.”

Remus shared a look with Roman seeming to communicate he didn’t blame him for not knowing.

Virgil’s mouth felt dry. How many people had just turned a blind eye to the abuse or worse helped enable it? He glanced up and met eyes with both Logan and Patton, who also appeared to have caught the implications behind Remus’ words.

Dee placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder before going back to sitting down on the other side of Virgil.

“Perhaps we can change the subject now?”

Everyone seemed to agree and collectively decide to leave that bit of past in the past.

Logan adjusted his tie and made a sound like he was clearing his throat. Again, how he did that without a mouth or nose was a mystery.

“Yes, I believe we should return to the more recent matter of how you got here and managed to find Virgil?”

“Ah yes, we were meaning to explain that. Well after Remus and I realized that Virgil was in trouble we tracked his phone out of the city and to an old warehouse where we found quite a lot of illegal activity. Of course, we alerted the authorities but unfortunately the majority of the operation had been moved to a ship that was long gone by the time we got there and had taken Virgil with them. The officers said there wasn’t much they could do about that other than alert the alliance.”

“Bastards.”

Patton opened his mouth on reflex as if to scold Remus for his bad language again but quickly closed it.

“We obviously weren’t going to stand around and do nothing, so we tried to find a way to follow the smuggler ship. A few days later we were approached by a man who said he worked for the interplanetary incident department.”

“Space cops.”

“Yes, in essence. He told us he heard about Virgil and wanted to help find him. He had a ship and asked us to come with him so we could find Virgil together.”

“We told him no shit we’re coming and boarded. We then asked the right people the right questions and now here we are.”

The smile Remus gave when he mentioned asking questions made it clear they’d more than just ask nicely for their answers, but everyone decided to ignore that.

Logan looked over Dee and Remus then at Virgil before seeming to come to a silent conclusion.

“Well now that you’re here it makes things easier for us.”

Dee narrowed his eyes.

“Easier how?”

“We came here in an attempt to locate a ship that would be able to take Virgil back to Earth, as we are not authorized to do so. Now that we’ve found you, not only does Virgil have a way home, but also one we can guarantee his comfort and safety.”

Dee didn’t seem to know what to do with that, obviously expecting a confrontation.

“Oh uh… yes taking him home with us was the plan.”

Virgil forced himself not to tense, suddenly realizing this was it. He was going back to Earth, with Dee and Remus, and leaving Patton, Logan, and Roman behind. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to leave them, but he also wanted to be with Dee and Remus. He wanted what he had right now. All of them, together.

It was strange, but despite how different they all were he could tell exactly how they’d all fit together. Roman and Remus were brothers and obviously wanted to catch up. He could also see Logan being pulled into Remus’ boundless curiosity and not even blink at his brand of questions. Patton would probably take some time to get past Remus’ vulgar exterior, but he would probably love someone who was as cuddly as he was. He knew that Dee would enjoy getting into long debates with Logan and the only person to rival him in being over dramatic was Roman. Patton would have to make the first move, but he knew Dee’s walls would instantly crumble under the pure honesty of his affection. They’d be a family.

Virgil was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at Dee.

“Huh?”

“You were spacing.”

“Oh sorry, what I miss?”

“We wanted to know if you wanted us to follow you to the ship. You know to see you off?”

Virgil looked to Patton and the emotion in his eyes hit him like a truck. If he ever had even the slightest notion of saying no it was dashed as soon as he saw those eyes.

“Uh yeah, course you can come.”

Patton gave him such a genuine smile and Virgil felt his heart lurch. It was going to be hard seeing that smile fade when he had to go.

-

They all made their way through the hub, and down to the docking station. Eventually they came to a modest looking ship.

“Here we are.”

Virgil looked up at the ship then to Patton, Logan, and Roman.

“Guess this is it. I uh…”

“We’re going to miss you too, Black Hole.”

Virgil smiled and held up his hand for a fist bump, which Roman happily returned.

“I can not say it is not difficult to see you go. We’ve all grown quite accustom to you. I…”

“Yeah I know.”

He held out a hand and Logan shook it, grip a bit tighter than needed.

Finally, he got to Patton and held out his arms.

“I think I’m ready for that hug now.”

Patton practically launched himself at Virgil and held him close.

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

Virgil felt his eyes sting and he buried his face in Patton’s fur.

“I’m going to miss you too.”

Eventually the hug broke off and he returned to Dee and Remus. Dee pulled out a small remote and pressed a button which opened the ship’s doors.

On the other side was a Poggill with hot pink fur wearing a black piece of fabric over their shoulders. Upon seeing Virgil their eyes lit up and a large smile spread over their face.

“You found him!”

They had a face that one might make at an adorable puppy.

“And he’s so cute!”

Their fingers twitched as if trying to hold back from touching him.

Virgil could feel the uncomfortable tension from the five people behind him.

“Uh thanks?”

That seemed to make the Poggill even more ecstatic.

“You’re welcome, now let’s get you back where you belong.”

They ushered Virgil, Dee, and Remus into the ship and Virgil just managed to get one last glimpse of Patton, Logan, and Roman before the door closed.

The Poggill turned to Dee and Remus.

“Mr. O wants to talk to you for a second but I’m sure Virgil is tired from everything that’s happened. I can take him to his room while you talk, and you can catch up later.”

Dee and Remus exchanged a look then looked to Virgil as if to ask if he wanted that.

To be honest, the idea of being left alone with a stranger after just being reunited with his friends was honestly not something Virgil really found appealing. However, as soon as the subject of him being tired was brought up a wave of exhaustion hit him like a wave, and he swayed a bit. He wasn’t quite sure where it came from but right now taking a nap sounded really good at that moment.

“You’ll come see me right after?”

“Of course.”

Dee gave him a rare soft smile and Virgil nods before following the Poggle down the hall.

-

The room was simple, much like the one he had on the Mind Palace, if a bit smaller and with no cabinets. Virgil didn’t really care though. There was a bed and he didn’t really have anything that needed to be put away.

He went inside and flopped down on the bed not realizing the Poggill hadn’t followed. He was just about to drift off when he heard the door shut and the sound of a heavy lock clicking into place. Suddenly he was much more awake and alert, and he frantically looked to the door.

The Poggills smiled at him through the small window in the door.

“Aw you really are so cute. I can see why the nobles are so willing to pay so much for a human like you.”

Virgil’s heart sank. No, please no.

“Well I got to get back to work. Bye.”

They tapped the black cloth on their shoulders, and it morphed and twisted until the Poggill was wearing a very familiar full body suit. They gave another wave before leaving Virgil in the locked room.

-

Dee and Remus made their way deeper into the ship and entered a room obviously meant to be an office. A large desk was in the center with two chairs in front of it. A man with deep amber eyes and a wide grin, presumably Mr. O, sat behind it and motioned for them to sit down.

They did and turned their attention to the man.

“I got to give you men credit. It would have taken ages for me to track Virgil down, but you were able to find him in under a month.”

“Well it helps to know…”

Dee stopped when something caught his eye. Left of the desk was a coat rack and on that coat rack, was a bright orange coat. The same orange coat Virgil had mentioned many times when complaining about a very ill-tempered boss.

“… the person you’re looking for.”

Dee’s eyes narrowed and Mr. O’s smile became darker.

“Yes, you two made things a lot easier for me.”

Dee made a move but a sudden restraint wrapped around his torso trapping him in the seat. Remus saw this but before he could react the same happened to him.

“What the fuck?!”

Mr. O just kept smiling as the two glared at him.

“When I found out my smuggling ship had been found and turned over to the authorities, I thought I was ruined. I had invested so much into this trade that would set me for life, but luckily for me some bleeding hearts decided that they wanted to help Virgil get home, giving me the opportunity to get him back.”

“You sicko, I’m going to tare out your intestines and strangle you with them!”

Mr. O rolled his eyes and pressed a button on his desk. Another restraint came out of Remus’ chair this time covering his mouth.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for weeks now.”

Dee growled as he yanked on his restraints.

“What do you want with Virgil?”

Mr. O laughed.

“What do I want? Do you know how much Poggills nobles are willing to pay for a pet human?”

“You’d sell your own kind for money?!”

“Oh, humans have been doing far more for less for centuries.”

He stood up and smirked down at his two captives.

“Virgil is the perfect candidate, small, skittish, easily folds to anyone with power over him. Unfortunately, he’s also got a bit of a rebellious streak and a sharp tongue. I’d attempted to break him of that, but I never could figure out how he kept it up so long. That is until I found he wasn’t as isolated as I thought. If I wanted him docile, I had to make him truly hopeless, and lucky me I found just the way to do that.”

Dee continued to glare and struggle as the question burning in his mind came out.

“How? How did you trick me? I can sense lies.”

Mr. O chuckled darkly

“Serapans can sense lies from other species.”

He closed his eyes and then opened them to reveal bright orange irises with slit pupils.

“But not their own.”

Dee’s eyes widened.

“You’re half…”

“Oh no, nothing as messy as you, half breed. I made sure I got what I wanted from DNA.”

“You’re a splicer.”

“Very good, but you want to know what the best part about this is?”

He turned his eyes back to looking human.

“To Virgil I’m just a normal human, just as susceptible to your gifts as any other. What will he think when he finds out you helped me get him back?”

The horror on Dee’s face was instant as the realization sunk in.

Remus thrashed harder as he shouted, what were probably increasingly painful death threats, behind the gag.

“Now I just got to figure out what to do with you two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everyone wondering if the ship was Dee and Remus or smugglers, ha I fooled you. It was both!  
> Also I wanted to get this out yesterday for Thomas' Birthday but as you can see this chapter is really long and I have other projects I'm working on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gives up but others don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr. O is a manipulative ass and more Remus being Remus

Virgil had been banging on the door for what was probably half an hour now. He needed to get Dee and Remus’ attention so they could let him out and they could get out of here. Or at least that’s what he told himself as he tried to block the unwanted thoughts that had immediately started to form as soon as he saw the Poggill smuggler walk away.

Surely Dee and Remus would realize something was wrong and come get him. Except, the boss of the ship had asked them to come to him and the smuggler Poggill had made an excuse for Virgil to be separated from them. This was planned. Which either meant Dee and Remus were in trouble or…

No, he wasn’t going to think like that. Dee and Remus were his friends and good people. They’d never do something like this.

“Getting comfortable, Virgil?”

Virgil froze as the feeling of ice shot through his veins. That voice. He knew that voice, but that was impossible. He couldn’t be here.

He looked up to see familiar amber eyes looking down at him from the other side of the window. The same eyes he had dreaded being caught by every day since he started his security job.

Mr. O smiled down at him and Virgil took a step back.

“How? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just on my way to becoming incredibly rich. You see Poggills find humans quite adorable, especially small skittish ones.” He flashed a dark grin which made a shiver run down Virgil’s back. “And their nobles are willing to pay just about anything to get one as a pet.”

“PET!”

“Pet, decoration, toy, whatever. As long as I cash in on my investment it doesn’t really matter.”

Virgil felt his hands shaking and he clenched them to make it look like it was from anger rather than fear. He couldn’t let his fear of this man overtake him, not now.

“You can’t keep me in here. You can’t lie to Dee, eventually he and Remus will find out what you did and get me out.”

Mr. O laughed darkly.

“You’re right about one thing. Your little hybrid friend can sense lies, but he’s also been on my ship for near a month now. Do you really think he’d spend that long here not knowing exactly what was going to happen?”

Virgil felt a cold pit form in his stomach.

“No, he wouldn’t…”

“You don’t sound so confident in that.”

Virgil shook his head. This didn’t make any sense. Yes, he’d feared they’d get fed up with him and eventually end up hating him, but this just felt wrong. Dee and Remus wouldn’t go this far just to get rid of him, right? There was something he wasn’t telling him.

“Why? If they really… wanted me gone...”

He grit his teeth, and sucked in a breath to keep his voice steady. He couldn’t afford to let this man know how close he was to an anxiety attack.

“They didn’t have to do all this. As far as they knew I was already gone. What would make them want to join a smuggling operation?”

Mr. O’s smile grew.

“Smart. Yes, getting them to agree to this with no motivation would be very difficult, but as I’m sure you know fear is a great motivator.”

Suddenly that cold pit in his stomach shifted into something darker, betrayal morphing into a protective anger.

“What did you do?”

“Me? Oh, I didn’t do anything. Not yet of course, but I’m assuming you know what happened to the Fae-lil?”

Virgil narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t giving this man any more than he already had.

“You see when Remus ran away with those researchers the consequences of that didn’t end with him. Oh no. Once the alliance got word of what old Grand Leader was up to, they sent an investigation party. Unfortunately, the Grand Leader was able to avoid the other Fae-lils finding out and managed to keep his power only having to release his horded technology to the public. Still that boy had almost cost him everything and that made the Grand Leader very mad. Mad enough to seek revenge.”

Virgil really didn’t like where this was going but kept listening. He needed to know the full story.

“Of course, I told your little friends and it scared them. If everything that happened before was just to keep him quiet, just imagine what the Grand Leader would do with real malice behind it. So, I gave them a deal, help me get you back and I’ll give them all the money they need to keep them safe and far away from the Grand Leader. They couldn’t agree fast enough. Give up the clingy brat, who has a brake down from a simple bad day, to a life of being an over pampered pet, in exchange for keeping the guy with real problems safe. Not a hard decision to make.”

Virgil felt his back hit the wall behind him. When had he started to back up?

“And do you want to know a little secret? One I did manage to keep from the half breed. The Grand Leader put up a bounty to anyone who can give him the boy who almost ruined him, offering even more if they can give him anyone who helped hide him. It’s utter peanuts compared to what I’d get for you, even with the expense of keeping my little helpers safe, but money is money and if this deal doesn’t go through, well… you can probably see what I’m getting at.”

Virgil sank to the floor. His anger was gone now, replaced with a horrible suffocating feeling of dread and helplessness. The pit in his stomach had morphed once again into shards of ice stabbing him from the inside.

Mr. O smiled once more and left Virgil to stew in his emotions. Virgil didn’t notice him go and curled into a ball.

His eyes stung and he felt something wet on his face. He didn’t care. Nothing mattered, he was stuck. As much as he wanted to be mad at Dee and Remus for what they did he couldn’t. He knew just how traumatized Remus had been, he couldn’t let him and Dee go through something worse. Which meant all he could do was sit here and wait. Wait for him to be sold off like a pretty ornament into a world he knew nothing about. The tears came harder as he was hit with his second of many anxiety attacks he knew he’d have to suffer through alone.

-

He wasn’t sure how long it had been when he heard the sound of the window being slowly opened and something being thrown into his cell. For a while he didn’t move or even look at what had been thrown in, but eventually curiosity got the better of him and he shifted just enough to see what it was.

As soon as his eyes landed on the collar, he felt his stomach fall even lower than he ever thought it could.

“Well what are you waiting for? Can’t sell you as disobedient pet and you know what happened if I can’t sell you.”

Virgil tensed at the words and slowly reached out to grab the collar. It felt heavy in his hands despite not being more than a few ounces. His hands shook as his fingers brushed over the hard metal clasp he knew would never come undone. Slowly he brought it up to his neck and snapped it into place. His arms then fell limply at his sides. There was no fighting back, he’d given up.

-

Elsewhere on the ship loud bangs could be heard coming from another cell door.

“When I get my hands on that bastard, I’m going to tear out his toenails and use to them to carve out his eyes!”

He banged on the door again, but it remained just as locked.

“Remus, stop. You’re just going to hurt yourself.”

Dee was on the floor, curled up in a ball and looking the mirror image of Virgil at that moment.

“Well what am I supposed to do? Virgil needs us, we can’t just sit here like a pile of slugs getting salted.”

“What’s the point? Even if we did get out Virgil’s going to hate us now. He’d never accept help from us.”

Remus shook his head in desperation.

“There’s got to be something we can do! Virgil’s going to be sold off as some pompous bitch’s lap dog. We can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

Remus sank to the floor gripping at his horns. Reflexively Dee reached up to stop him when his eyes went wide.

“Maybe there is something we can do.”

He quickly got up and pulled Remus’ hands from his horns.

“We haven’t taken off yet, which means you’re still close enough to sense Roman, right?”

Remus looked confused but nodded.

“Yeah, but I don’t see how knowing my brother’s in that direction is going to help us?”

He pointed his thumb to his right to indicate which way Roman was in relation to them.

“No, but you said you and Roman could send images to each other. You need to show him that we’re trapped in a cell. Show him we need his help.”

Remus’ eyes went wide before suddenly looking away.

“I don’t know. I haven’t done that since my horns were broken. What if I can’t do it anymore.”

“You have to try, it’s our only chance to save Virgil.”

Remus’ face became serious and nodded. Dee got up and started shoving at the door to give the clear image of them being locked inside. Remus focused and his horns started to glow. The glow got brighter until Remus dropped to the ground gasping.

“Whoa. Forgot what that felt like.”

“Did you do it?”

“Yeah… I think I did.”

“Then let’s hope your brother comes soon.”

-

Not too far away, the crew of the Mind Palace were heading back to their ship after replacing some of the equipment they had to leave behind in their quick escape from the new planet, when Roman suddenly clutched his head and stumbled.

“Whoa. That is going to be hard to get used to again.”

“Roman? What happened.”

Patton turned a worried face towards Roman as Logan tilted his head in curiosity.

“Remus just sent me an image. Guess he wanted to see if he still could after all this time.”

“Oh cool, what did he show you?”

Roman opened his mouth before closing it and frowning.

“It’s of Dee. He’s trying to get a door open and they seem to be in a small room.”

His frown became that of concern.

“I think they’re trapped and… Virgil isn’t with them. Guys I…”

Roman didn’t have to finish as both Patton and Logan were already running back in the direction of the smuggler ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels weird to be calling Deceit Dee now that we know his name.   
> Oh well guess that's for my next fic. I've got a lot of ideas, I might have to make a list.  
> Maybe you guys can vote on which one I write next.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gets his happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally finished.  
> Sorry this last chapter took so long.  
> Apparently my skin hates me and broke out in another painful itchy rash, so it took longer finish this than it normally would have.
> 
> Virgil gets shocked by the collar but I think that's it.  
> There is also some negative self talk but it's only a few lines and followed by Patton's love and reassurance.  
> Let me know if there is anything else I need to worn anyone about. Enjoy the last chapter.

Virgil wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep, but he was very aware of when he woke up. There was a loud bang from down the hall and a lot of shouting. He’d heard this before. Those were the same sounds he’d heard right before Patton, Logan, and Roman found him, but that was impossible.

No one would be coming to save him. Patton, Logan, and Roman thought he was going home Dee and Remus had betrayed him out of fear for themselves and no one else knew he was here. Even by some miracle someone was actually trying to rescue him it wouldn’t work. He couldn’t leave. Not when leaving meant Dee and Remus would be in danger.

He shuffled back into the corner and waited to see what would happen.

-

What happened was a lot more fighting sounds that got closer until they eventually ended with a loud thump against his cell door. Virgil flinched at the sound but gave no other reaction.

There were then voices outside the door and the sounds of shuffling. A small part of Virgil wanted to go to the window to see what was going on, but a much larger part told him that was a bad idea.

Then something big and heavy crashed into the door leaving a large dent and causing Virgil to nearly jump out of his skin. He buried his face in his knees and flipped his hood over his head as if he was trying to hide as much as possible in the corner.

The door was hit again causing the lock to strain under the pressure. It was followed by another hit and the lock gave way. The door swung in violently and slammed against the wall.

Virgil didn’t look to see what had caused that. He just continued to shake in his little ball against the wall. He could slightly see something green and glowing, but he refused to move his face from behind his knees.

“Impressive, I’m sure there wasn’t a quieter, less destructive way of opening the door.”

“Yeah but this was faster. Anyway, look we found him.”

Those voices. He knew those voices, but that didn’t make any sense.

Slowly he peeked out from his curled position just enough to see it was indeed Dee and Remus in the broken open doorway. What were they doing? They’d helped trap him here and would be in danger if he wasn’t sold.

Remus took a step forward only to be stopped by Dee.

“Stop, he’s not going to trust us.”

Dee then turned back to the hallway.

“Patton, we found him.”

There was a blur of light blue and gray and suddenly all Virgil could see were the wide worried eyes of Patton looking down at him. This sent another wave of roiling emotions through him. If Patton was here that meant Logan and Roman were here too. They’d come to rescue him but how did they know?

“Come on Virge, we got to get you out of here.”

Virgil’s heart sank remembering why he couldn’t leave and shook his head violently. He couldn’t go. He couldn’t put Dee and Remus in danger, even if it meant him being miserable.

“No? What do you mean? You’re in danger here.”

Virgil glanced to Dee and Remus before looking back down in defeat.

“Virgil please…”

Dee’s voice cracked with emotion, which caught Virgil’s attention. Dee never showed sadness or worry like that. Dee knew that Virgil knew this so it couldn’t be an act, Dee must have actually felt genuinely upset, but why?

“I know you probably don’t trust us right now, and won’t believe me when I say I had no idea any of this was going to happen, but please let us help you get you out of here. You can hate us as much as you want when you’re safe.”

Virgil only became more confused.

“I don’t hate you.”

This seemed to catch Dee off guard.

“What?”

“I don’t hate you. You were scared, I understand.”

Remus tightened his grip on the glowing green morning star Virgil only just realized he was holding. When did he get that?

“We’re not scared of Mr. ‘Soon to no longer have a ribcage’ O.”

“But you’re scared of the Grand Leader.”

Remus flinched confirming Virgil’s statement.

“It’s ok, I understand. He has a bounty out for you because you told the alliance about him, of course you’d do anything to get the money to keep away from him.”

Patton looked to Dee and Remus who looked just as confused by Virgil’s words.

“Virgil, honey. What are you talking about? Dee and Remus were the ones who told us you were in trouble. We had to break them out of a cell too.”

Wait what? He looked to Dee and Remus trying to figure out the piece of the story he was missing.

“Mr. O offered money to keep you away from bounty hunters trying to take Remus and anyone helping him to the Grand Leader in exchange for getting me back. Didn’t he?”

“Oh god no. Virgil we would never…”

Dee looked away, obviously not knowing what to say while still thinking Virgil wouldn’t believe him.

“The bastard’s a splicer. He hid his Serapan traits so Dee didn’t know he couldn’t sense his lies. We swear we had no clue he was a smuggler. Even if he did promise us a way to never be caught by… him again, we’d never hurt you like this. Nothing is worth that.”

Not worth it? Of course keeping Remus away from that mad man was worth it. How could Remus not realize that?

“Keeping you safe is. That horrible excuse for a leader hurt you, hurt you so bad you have major trauma and full on flashback from it. The worse that could happen to me is be treated like a pretty ornament. If that’s what it takes to avoid you getting tortured, then yes it’s worth it.”

Tears started to blur Virgil’s vision but that didn’t prevent him from seeing the shock form on the other’s faces. Both Remus and Patton looked seconds away from pulling him into a hug, the only thing holding them back being the knowledge Virgil wouldn’t take it well. Meanwhile, Dee seemed to be going through a million different emotions at once. His ever present calm and collected mask was smashed beyond any form of repair. Patton’s face then became that of heart brake.

“Oh Virgil no. Don’t disregard you’re own trauma, you were hurt too and you’re still hurting.”

Virgil noticed Patton was looking at his neck and he shrunk back in shame, trying to hide the collar. He was too late as both Dee and Remus saw it before he could cover it up.

“What is that?”

Remus looked beyond murderous.

Patton made a pained noise as if it hurt just to answer.

“A shock collar. Virgil I can get that off if you let me.”

Virgil looked conflicted then Dee took a step forward that looked almost confident.

“Virgil listen, I know you’re not going to let us do anything to help you because you’re a self sacrificing idiot. So I’m going to explain this in a way that’ll get through to you. After Remus and I found out what Mr. O was doing he locked us in a cell and said he needed to figure out what to do with us. He then told you about the bounty for Remus and his allies. What do you think he planned on doing with us after he sold you?”

Virgil’s eyes widened in realization and quickly got to his feet only to wince in pain and sink back down.

Patton gave him a sympathetic look before slowly reaching out. He made eye contact with Virgil to ask permission and he nodded. A few moments later the collar was off and thrown to the other side of the room.

Patton then got up from where he was kneeling in front of Virgil and offered a hand to him.

“Come on bud, let’s get somewhere safe.”

Virgil looked at the hand before taking it and being led out of the cell, Dee and Remus right behind.

Once out of the room he saw that Logan and Roman had been keeping watch outside in the hallway and both gave a smile at seeing him. Or Roman smiled whiled Logan gave a curt nod of acknowledgement and ushered them to the exit.

They all ran down the ship’s corridors, Dee and Remus leading the way as they were the most familiar with the ship. They rounded a corner and sprinted to the still open door.

That was until the door started closing.

“What gives? Logan you said they wouldn’t be able to close it.”

Roman glanced over his shoulder at Logan, too on edge to come up with a nickname at the moment.

Logan quickly pulled up a screen and his eyes narrowed.

“They shouldn’t. I have no idea how they over rid my override.”

They all started running faster but it was no use. The door slammed close with a final thud and they had to skid a bit to stop from running into it.

“Logan.”

“I am working on it.”

Dee looked behind them and tensed.

“Someone’s coming.”

As if on instinct he stepped in front of Virgil and Remus as if to protect them.

Everyone turned to see several Poggills in smuggler suits running down the hall at than with batons raised. Virgil’s eyes zoomed in on the weapons and he suddenly felt like he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs. Remus pulled him closer as Roman held out his sword and stood next to Dee.

“Not a single one will lay a villainous hand on you.”

Remus took a step closer to Virgil without touching him and gripped his morning star.

“What my bro said, just less stupid sounding.”

Roman shot a look at Remus over his shoulder but didn’t say anything, knowing it wasn’t the time. 

The Pogglils got closer and were about to attack when a voice rang through the hall. They stopped in their tracks as Mr. O appeared.

“Now I’m sure none of you want any violence. Hand over the human and the rest of you can go.”

“I don’t need the use of my powers to know that you’re lying.”

“Yeah, how about you let us go and you get to keep all your fingers!”

“You’re not really in the position to be making threats.”

Logan looked up from his screen and raised an eyebrow.

“Are we not? I was under a different assumption please inform us on why this would be an ill-advised action.”

Everyone looked to Logan as if he had grown a seconds head. This was quite out of character for the logical alien.

Mr. O laughed.

“You are the dumbest Alnaien I have ever met. Look around you. You are clearly outnumbered, and there’s no way you can stand up to military grade shock batons.”

“So, you do plan on attacking us with illegal weaponry?”

“Like I care what’s legal. You really are an idiot. I run one of the largest smuggling operations in the galaxy and kidnapped someone to sell on the black market. What makes you think I would be at all hesitant to use illegal weapons?”

“Absolutely nothing, I already knew what your answers were going to be. I just needed to stall you for a few more moments.”

Just then the door opened, and a squad of law enforcement agents swarmed the ship.

“Sorry did I not mention that I called ahead to the local authorities about an unregistered ship calming to a government vehicle? I’m sure they’d love to hear the recording I just took a view confessing to your numerous crimes.”

Mr. O and his men were quickly disarmed and cuffed.

Logan’s eyes squinted as if he were smiling smugly.

“Please tell me who the idiot is now.”

-

The next few hours were filled with questions and directions to stay nearby. Thankfully being a victim of the crime allowed Virgil along with Dee and Remus to be excluded from most of the questioning that didn’t involve what happened directly to them.

Virgil watched as Mr. O and the other smugglers were taken away. He felt his shoulders released tension he was not aware he had been holding. Ok maybe there had been more trauma associated with the smugglers than he had admitted before.

Finally, the questioning ended and Patton, Logan and Roman were free to come back to them.

“So, what now?”

Logan turned to the three of them to explain.

“Well Mr. O and his entire operation are going to be locked away for a very long time and his ship is going to be confiscated.”

Dee frowned at this news.

“It is? But that was our ride back to Earth. What are we going to do now?”

“Well I’m sure if you tell one of these law enforcement officers your predicament, they will be able to arrange a flight home for you. That is if you wish to reject our offer.”

“Offer?”

Virgil tried not to get his hopes up. It was very possible that their offer was not what he wanted it to be.

“Yes well. Virgil, this past month the crew and I have become rather close with you and while we have yet to get to know Dee and Remus as well, from our brief interactions and your stories about them, we believe that we can get along quite well with them too. We have talked and would like to propose that you stay with us. There is plenty of room and resources on the Mind Palace and we would be happy to accommodate any other needs you may have. Roman has also expressed interest in reconnecting with Remus. Of course, if you wish to reject this offer, we understand.”

Virgil, Dee, and Remus all looked from Logan to each other not yet knowing how to respond. Virgil was trying to stop the growing hope inside him.

“Are you sure? Isn’t the ship just for researchers?”

“Not at all. The ship is our home and belongs to us. Who is allowed residency on it is completely up to us. However, if you do wish to become researchers the training and registration takes about a year given you will be getting hands on experience.”

It was really hard to keep that bit of hope from growing now. Virgil looked to Dee and Remus to see what their answer would be, but Logan started speaking again.

“Before you make your decision there is one more factor you may want to take into account. I hate to bring this up as it feels manipulative, but there is still the matter of the bounty on Remus and his allies. While it has been brought to the attention of the authorities, and they will do everything in their power to keep you safe, being in one location for too long does make you an easier target. The Mind Palace is constantly on the move and going to uncharted locations. It would make it much harder to find you.”

Logan looked the way as if ashamed of using their fear in this manner. Virgil had the urge to quickly reassure Logan that he was more than willing to stay with them even without the threat of danger. However, he couldn’t make decisions for Dee and Remus. This offer was everything he wanted but he couldn’t force his friends to do anything they didn’t want.

He looked to Dee and Remus who mirrored his own conflicted expression.

Dee was the first to reply.

“May we have some time to discuss this amongst ourselves.”

“Oh of course, you are under no obligation to make your decision immediately.”

Dee smile gratefully and turned to Virgil and Remus as Logan left.

“So, what do you want, Virgil?”

Virgil was thrown for a loop. He had not been expecting to be asked outright what he wanted and was just planning on agreeing with whatever Dee and Remus wanted.

“Look we know you Virge. If we don’t ask you what you want to your face you won’t say it. This decision involves you to.”

“And don’t try to redirect the question. I don’t need my powers to know when you are not being truthful.”

Virgil looked between his two oldest friends not knowing what to say. That was a lie, he just didn’t know if he could say it. Buddy had to. Just get it over with. Like ripping off a band aid.

“I… I want to stay with them!”

For a moment Dee and Remus looked shocked before Dee’s face softened into a smile.

“Alright, that is my vote as well. Remus?”

“Finally getting to fuck with my brother after all these years? Count me in.”

If Remus’ smile was strained in the same way it was when there was more to say but he didn’t want to stay it neither Virgil nor Dee mentioned it.

-

The news of them wishing to stay with the crew went over very well. Aside from Virgil getting a bit overwhelmed by the fact that not only was he getting what he wanted but everyone else wanted it as well. He’d been sent to his room to process, leaving Dee and Remus alone with the crew.

For a moment, the two groups just awkwardly looked at each other before Patton offered a tour of the ship. Dee and Remus agreed and soon were following the crew around the ship.

Remus was pretty engrossed by what the crew was saying, most likely thinking of several different ways he could cause mischief in every room of the ship. Dee, however, only gave everything a passing glance as he tuned the chatter out. It wasn’t until his vision was blocked by a mass of blue fur did he snap out of what he was thinking.

“Hey, you looked like you were thinking about something. Want to talk about it?”

Dee looked to Patton and almost took an instinctive step back at seeing how close the larger alien was. This small slip up resulted in him becoming defensive.

“Look I get it. You’re really only doing this for Virgil, and possibly Remus because he’s Roman’s brother and in danger. The courtesy was only extended to me because we’re a packaged deal. You don’t have to pretend you want me here.”

Patton’s smile fell before returning smaller but also more understanding.

“You’re not wrong that Virgil influenced our decision, and of course Roman wants his brother safe. But just because you don’t have a direct connection with us doesn’t mean we have to exclude you. Virgil told us a lot about you and I’d really like to get to know you myself. There’s nothing saying we can’t make a connection now.”

He offered his hand out to Dee who looked at it skeptically before slowly reaching out his own hand and accepting it. Something resembling a genuine smile tugged at his lips as he tried to cover it with a smirk.

“You really believe that.”

“Of course, I do. Now come on, we still need to show both of you your rooms.”

Patton pulled Dee down the hall not noticing Virgil watching them from around the corner with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun but now I have so many other ideas I want to write and can't choose which one to do. I'll leave a list and if any sound interesting to you let me know.
> 
> 1\. Bounty - Sequel to this story that involves bounty hunters trying to get to Remus and possibly some of Dee's backstory. (Not really fleshed out but I got some ideas.) 
> 
> 2\. Reverse Changeling - Remus grew up being told that faeries are purely good creatures that grant humans wishes. Gross. However, years later he saw his best friend Virgil taken away by a fairy and learns a bit more about fairies then he ever expected, including a bit of his own past. 
> 
> 3\. Remus the Rat - Remus turns into a rat to scare Patton but underestimates how much Patton loves small fluffy creatures.
> 
> 4\. Light Sides have Animal Traits Too - Sequel to Only Dark Sides have Animal Traits. While keeping an eye on Patton and Janus' interactions Virgil notices Logan and Remus have been spending a lot of time together as well. He then finds a black feather in front of Logan's door. (Really don't have much for this yet)
> 
> 5\. What Lives in the Woods? - Scare all who enter, if they choose to run let them, if they choose to stay bring them to The Mother so they may become like you. Virgil the spider monster had lived by this rule ever since he was taken to The Mother himself, then Patton entered the woods.
> 
> (oops forgot one)  
> 6\. It's Fun to Play the Villain - Thomas gets cast as the bad guy in a play and Roman questions why he'd want to play the villain. Thomas' answer gives Roman more questions so he goes to the best person he knows to answer them. Remus is all too happy to answer those questions in his own Remus way.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working this for a while and finally got the courage to post it. Please let me know what you think.  
> All feed back is welcome.


End file.
